Page 28 of The Widow’s Irish Secret (Magnolia Manor #4)

There was a great buzz at the gatehouse as they got ready for the party.

As promised, Theresa, the cheery hairdresser, arrived half an hour early to do Vi’s hair, giving her an intricate chignon that looked both elegant and timeless.

She then applied a straightener to Tricia’s blonde waves turning it into a straight bob which went beautifully with her outfit.

She also helped her to secure the headband with the feathers and her twenties look was complete.

Vi and Tricia then did a twirl in front of the tall mirror in the hall while Jack put on his white tux and gelled his hair back, adding a fake black moustache because he hadn’t had time to grow one.

Then, laughing and chatting, the three of them walked up the avenue to the manor, then around the corner to the terrace, from where the tinny sound of music from the old gramophone could be heard.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor party behind the house with warm sunshine and a soft breeze from the sea that could be seen glinting in the distance.

Most of the guests had already arrived and had gathered on the terrace where a long table, covered by a white damask tablecloth, had been laid with platters of finger food and glasses of champagne. Everyone had made a huge effort with dressing up and Tricia felt as if they had stepped back in time.

Sylvia, dressed in a knee-length dress covered in silver sequins, stood on the top of the steps greeting everyone as they arrived.

She kissed Tricia on both cheeks and then did the same to Vi and Jack.

‘You all look wonderful,’ she declared. ‘And Violet and Jack, you are such a beautiful couple. I’m so proud of you. ’

‘You look amazing, Granny,’ Vi exclaimed. ‘That dress is magnificent.’

‘The queen of Magnolia Manor,’ Jack said and kissed Sylvia’s hand.

‘Thank you,’ Sylvia said, looking more than pleased.

‘You’re very kind. But now you must help yourself to food and drink and we’ll start the dancing.

At least you young ones will. I’ll just sit and enjoy watching you all having fun.

Arnaud will be here in a moment to help serve the champagne.

After a little bit of dancing, we’ll have more food, then the cake and the formal announcement of your engagement. ’

‘Hello,’ a voice said behind them. Tricia turned and discovered a pretty woman with jet-black hair cut in a razor-sharp bob and grey eyes under thick, dark lashes. ‘I’m Ilse,’ the woman continued and held out her hand. ‘And you must be Tricia and this gorgeous couple Violet and Jack.’

‘Well done,’ Sylvia said and kissed the woman on the cheek. ‘You got everyone’s name right. Welcome, Ilse. So glad you could make it.’

‘So nice of you to invite me,’ Ilse said in perfect English only slightly laced with a German accent. ‘I’m delighted to meet your family at last.’ She looked around at the people gathered on the terrace. ‘Isn’t this fun? Everyone looks incredible.’

‘So do you,’ Tricia said, admiring Ilse’s grey silk shift that came to just over her knees. ‘Love the black beads.’

‘Thank you.’ Ilse ran her hand down her long necklace that hung to her waist. ‘I picked them up in that second-hand shop. They had a great stock of vintage accessories.’ She turned to Arnaud, who had just joined them. ‘ Bonjour. You look just like Cary Grant in that tux.’

Arnaud laughed and ran his hand over his thick white hair. ‘Except for the difference in hairstyles. But thank you.’ He kissed Ilse on both cheeks. ‘Lovely to see you again, Ilse. You look perfect for the theme of the party.’

Rose and Lily arrived together at that moment, both looking beautiful in their own different ways. ‘Hi,’ they said in unison and then burst out laughing.

‘That must have sounded weird,’ Rose said, still giggling. ‘We don’t usually talk as one like that.’

‘We don’t usually get on either,’ Lily remarked, poking her elbow into Rose’s side. ‘Do we, darling?’

‘No, we don’t,’ Rose quipped. ‘We like to entertain our nearest and dearest with our bickering. But we thought we’d behave today.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Vi said with an ironic smile.

‘We’re giving it an hour,’ Lily said. ‘What’s your bet?’

Arnaud kissed them both and stepped back, smiling. ‘Adorable both of you, even if you start fighting.’

‘Thanks, Arnaud,’ Lily said. ‘But remember that if we do, it’ll be all Rose’s fault.’

‘Oh, never mind, you both look fabulous.’ Tricia studied her elder daughters with great pride.

Lily’s red dress suited her to perfection, bringing out her big brown eyes and dark, glossy hair.

Rose, so like Tricia, had recently cut her blonde hair into a pixie style and it went beautifully with her white top and palazzo pants. ‘Love the trousers, Rose.’

‘Aren’t they great?’ Rose did a twirl. ‘They might have been very daring in the twenties, but I think I would have worn them anyway.’

‘Of course you would,’ Lily retorted. ‘The twenties would have been your era and you’d have been a famous flapper and a total scandal queen.’

‘Oh, yes, I would,’ Rose said, beaming. ‘What fun that would have been.’

‘Thank goodness this isn’t then,’ Sylvia said drily. ‘I’d have hated to watch you and have to sort out any scrape you’d get into.’ She smiled at Ilse. ‘Now you see what I mean when I said the girls were a handful.’

‘I love them already,’ Ilse said and held out her hand to Lily. ‘Hi, I’m Ilse. I was looking forward to meeting you all. Sylvia is very proud of you, you know.’

‘When she’s not smacking our hands for being bold,’ Rose filled in and shook Ilse’s hand after Lily. ‘Hi, Ilse. Nice to meet you. And now you have to tell us about yourself and the work that brought you here.’

Ilse looked suddenly uncomfortable. ‘Well… ahem… It’s a long story and I’m not really allowed to talk about it yet.’

‘Oh, please, girls. Stop being so nosy,’ Sylvia exclaimed. ‘Let’s enjoy the party and Vi and Jack’s big day. Come this way, Ilse.’ She took Ilse by the arm and started to propel her towards the table. ‘Champagne for you all, except those who are driving. And I’ll introduce you to everyone.’

‘Wonderful,’ Ilse chortled. ‘I came in a taxi and I love champagne. Let’s party,’ she called over her shoulder as she walked away with Sylvia by her side.

‘Good idea,’ Tricia said.

Jack took Vi by the hand. ‘Let’s dance, sweetheart. That music is strangely contagious. I suddenly feel an urge to do the Charleston.’

‘You have to open the ball, of course,’ Tricia said. ‘Otherwise nobody will want to start dancing.’

‘Of course we will.’ Jack pulled Vi onto the terrace and they started to dance a wild Charleston to the scratchy sound of the old record player while everyone gathered around them. Then, suddenly they were all on the middle of the terrace, trying their best to copy Jack and Vi, everyone laughing.

Tricia watched them all and then Dominic, who had just arrived, pulled her with him, telling her to kick her legs up. ‘Come on, Tricia, show them how it’s done,’ he urged. She tried her best and then found herself moving with the music, doing the Charleston as if by magic.

‘Gosh, this is fun,’ she panted when they stopped. ‘Even though the sound from that old thing is terrible.’

‘The rhythm is hypnotic, though.’ Dom wiped his brow with a handkerchief. ‘But now I feel like a glass of bubbly, don’t you?’

‘And some food,’ Tricia said. ‘This is supposed to be a tea dance but I know that Sylvia is offering a buffet a little later and then we’ll have the announcement and a cake. Or I should say the cake.’

Dominic let out a laugh. ‘Oh, yeah, it’s a monster, Lily said. Can’t wait to see it.’

Tricia was right. When the dancing petered out and the guests had cleared the plates with finger food, a buffet was laid out along with more champagne and mocktails for those who were driving or not drinking alcohol for whatever reason.

Then, when everything had been devoured, Sylvia, who was standing at the table beside a huge cake with white icing decorated with pink marzipan hearts, tapped her glass with a fork and called for ‘Attention’ at the top of her voice.

‘I have an announcement,’ she said. ‘A big one that concerns two young people. As you might have seen on some social media, Violet and Jack have just got engaged and that is why we are here celebrating today. So please raise your glasses to them.’

Everyone held up their glasses and said, ‘Violet and Jack,’ in unison and then there was a long applause. ‘And to Sylvia, the hostess with the mostest,’ someone shouted when the applause died down. ‘This party is the best ever.’

They all toasted Sylvia and then there was more applause. Violet and Jack cut the cake together and soon the slices were distributed to everyone on the terrace.

‘Delicious cake.’ Ilse sat down beside Tricia on the balustrade with a piece of cake on a plate.

‘Those big cakes are normally not that good but this one is amazing. Isn’t Sylvia great?

To organise this party and then she says the wedding will be fabulous too.

Violet is going to wear her dress and everything.

How romantic.’ She took a huge bite of cake.

Tricia’s mouthful of cake suddenly got stuck in her throat and she started to cough violently to dislodge it.

Ilse slapped her on the back and then the bite flew out of Tricia’s mouth and she could breathe again.

‘Sorry,’ she said when she could talk. ‘I tried to swallow too fast, I think. What was that you said?’

Ilse looked confused. ‘About Sylvia? I said that she will be arranging the wedding and that Violet will wear her grandmother’s dress. Sylvia told me all about it when I had dinner with her and Arnaud recently.’ Ilse cut another bite out of her cake with her fork.

Tricia stared at Ilse. ‘What else did she say?’

‘Oh, just that the wedding is going to be small but very beautiful and that the date hasn’t been fixed yet.’ Ilse smiled and took yet another bite of cake. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing it all in the media, though.’

‘The media?’ Tricia asked.

‘Yes. Magazines and so forth,’ Ilse said, waving her fork. ‘Sylvia said there’ll be some features in the press. Can’t wait to see it. They’re such an adorable couple. You must be so happy for them.’

‘Of course I am,’ Tricia said while she secretly seethed with anger.

How dare Sylvia tell Ilse, a complete stranger, all about Vi and Jack’s wedding?

And how dare she say that it would be featured in the press?

None of that was true. ‘But you know, all the details are not fixed yet. And I think they want the wedding to be family only with no media coverage.’

‘Maybe,’ Ilse said. ‘But I bet the press will want a foot in the door.’ She smiled.

‘That’s not for me to say, of course, not being family or a close friend or anything.

Except I heard so much about you and the girls from Cillian.

He told me all about how he and their father were close friends and all that.

And now you are all meeting up again, I believe. Such a touching story.’

‘Yes,’ Tricia replied, suddenly wanting to get away from this woman with her knowing smiles and insinuations.

‘So you and Cillian work together?’ she asked in order to take the spotlight away from her own connection with Cillian.

‘Something to do with an archaeological find, he said. All to do with a sunken ship out in the bay, I believe.’ Tricia cringed slightly at telling lies but she felt that if she pretended to know, Ilse would feel safe to tell her more.

Ilse stared at Tricia, her eyes wide. ‘He told you?’ she whispered. ‘But he can’t have. It’s confidential.’

‘I know, but he’s an old friend and we’re nearly like family,’ Tricia replied, mentally crossing her fingers behind her back.

‘Oh. I see. Well…’ Ilse hesitated. Then she shook her head. ‘No, I can’t say any more.’

‘But you’re a colleague of Cillian?’ Tricia asked, changing tack. ‘You’re an archaeologist like him?’

Ilse shook her head. ‘Not really. My work is not as academic. I’m more of a…

technician. Anyway, Cillian will be back soon and I’m meeting him for dinner in Dingle next week.

I’ll ask him to tell you about the project then.

He’ll have been briefed about it at headquarters in Germany and if they’re happy with what we have found so far, they might agree for us to talk about it.

But now I must go and chat with the nice people Sylvia introduced me to.

See you later.’ Ilse smiled and slipped away into the throng of guests who were now gathering to help themselves to what was left of the cake.

Tricia looked at the back of Ilse’s head with a feeling of having tried to catch a fish that kept getting away.

So Cillian was having dinner with Ilse when he came back?

Ilse had a glint of coyness in her eyes and Tricia wasn’t sure she could be trusted, or even if what she had said was true.

She turned as someone grabbed her arm. It was Maggie, looking excited.

‘Hi, Tricia. You look fabulous. All I managed was this lace nightmare I found in my granny’s trunk.’ Maggie gestured at her black dress that went down to her ankles. ‘Not really nineteen twenties, but I gave it a lash all the same. How’s the house coming on?’

‘Great,’ Tricia sad. ‘I’ll be moving in during the weekend. It will be a little basic at first but I’m dying to start decorating.’

Maggie nodded. ‘Brilliant. Let me know if you need any help. I’m a dab hand with the old paintbrush, you know.’

‘I will,’ Tricia promised. ‘I’m sure I’ll be screaming for help later on.

’ They joined the group around Vi and Jack as Vi showed off her ring and everyone congratulated them.

While she looked on, Tricia thought about what Ilse had said.

So Sylvia was pretending to be organising the wedding?

And Vi was going to wear Sylvia’s wedding dress and not Tricia’s?

She suddenly felt she was up against a wall of conspiracies and that Sylvia, looking so demure as she smiled at everyone, was planning to hijack the wedding that Vi so wanted be her own.

Well, two can play that game , Tricia thought. I just have to be diplomatic and pretend I’ll go along with it.