Don’t think about it, Tamsyn, she told herself. Don’t think about anything except Alex’s dress. The dress is all that matters.
Gradually, as they worked, the room filled up with more and more people coming to watch, although Alex was not one of them. Lucy and Gloria had taken her out for something approaching a hen night. Although the town was still mainly closed, they had salvaged a couple of bottles of champagne from the pub cellar and had hired a cab to take them to a disco in nearby St Austell. As for Ruan, Laura said he was at the lighthouse, busy making it ready for when he brought his new bride home. Rory came in, followed by Rosie and Eddie. Brian Rogers arrived carrying a battered old acoustic guitar, which he began to play, perched on the edge of the table. Skipper and the rowdy dogs had been shut away somewhere, probably with the children, but Buoy walked into the room, with statesmanlike dignity, and after turning around three times placed himself next to Mo, his nose pointed at her head, appointing himself her protector. Tamsyn was sure that the tiny child smiled when she saw him.
Tamsyn was certain that by now everybody had heard the news about Catriona, but nobody mentioned it. The crowd that gathered wasn’t there to gossip or speculate; even Sue, who came in and set up a tea urn at the far end of the room, away from the dresses, was quiet, thoughtful. As the group sewed on, carefully placing each stitch with the sort of care and attention that Tamsyn rarely saw, Mo began to fret, causing Buoy to cock his head to one side and whimper in return. It was Keira who picked her up from the mat and, cradling her in her arms, began to sing to her. Just a soft, tuneless murmuring at first, which gradually became a hum, which slowly turned into a song Tamsyn recognised. It was ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, and it only took a moment or two for Brian to pick up the tune and accompany her. Before long, the group of seamstresses began to join in and hum along, a few picking up the lyrics and crooning them under their breath, and then even Kirsten, followed by the bystanders, all gently singing as Keira rocked the baby, until finally Cordelia, her beautiful voice soaring over the group, joined in, smiling at Mo as she sang. Tears pricked behind Tamsyn’s eyes at the outpouring of love and care that was being directed at one tiny, lost little person, and her equally lost mother. Everyone who had come into the room tonight hadn’t come to sneak a peek at the dresses, or even just to socialise. They had come because they wanted to be near each other. It was an impulse that came out of instinct more than anything, to come together and keep watch over baby Mo for her mother’s sake. It was a vigil.
The song was repeated once more, and Mo settled into one of her deep baby sleeps, from which nothing would rouse her. Keira didn’t put her back in her carrycot, but held her close against her chest, kissing the top of her head as the people in the room fell back into companionable silence.
‘There.’ Tamsyn stood back as she secured the last panel of the skirt into place and looked at the dress, complete except for the final beadwork and embroidery that had yet to be done on the bodice. ‘You have been truly amazing, Poldore sewing circle: look what you have made.’
A rash of smiles broke out as everyone looked at the dress, and gradually a ripple of applause went around the room, gaining in momentum as it travelled, until finally it snowballed into cheers and whoops, and Tamsyn laughed as the ladies of the sewing circle (and the one gentleman) hugged each other and punched the air as if they had just won the World Cup or landed a spaceship on the moon. It was the sound of Sue’s phone ringing that stilled the celebration. The whole room turned to look at her.
‘Jed,’ Sue told them. She held the phone to her ear. ‘Hello?’
The room waited, and Tamsyn was sure that everyone was holding their breath, just as she was.
‘Yes, yes, of course. He’s asked for you.’ She held the phone out to Tamsyn, who put her scissors back in her pocket and took the phone, and, aware of dozens of pairs of eyes on her back, walked out of the room into the dark, shadowy hallway.
‘Jed?’ she said.
‘I thought you should know first,’ Jed said, the sound of his voice in her ear comforting her at once. ‘Catriona’s in a bad way. Not all of the placenta was delivered after the birth, it seems. She obviously wasn’t aware of that. I don’t suppose she knew what to expect after giving birth by herself. Having kept the pregnancy a secret for so long, she was determined it should stay that way.’
‘Oh my God, the poor woman,’ Tamsyn breathed. ‘Have you found out why?’
‘She hasn’t been coherent since they put her in the ambulance, but the doctors say she must have delivered Mo on her own, left her at the church and then tried to go back to life as it was before. She developed an infection and then, when the placenta worked its way loose, she lost a lot of blood. They took her straight into theatre the moment we got here, and she’s hooked up to all sorts of antibiotics now. Can’t really get much sense out of her, but the doctors think they’ve caught the infection before septicaemia has had a chance to set in. They’re confident she’s going to make a full recovery, in time.’
‘Oh, thank God,’ Tamsyn breathed, finding herself sitting down on the top stair of the grand staircase, as her legs felt less than reliable. ‘I mean, thank goodness. That’s good news. I’ll tell Mo.’
‘There’s still a lot to try and understand,’ Jed said. ‘Like how I can work with a person every single day and not know or notice what she was going through. Let alone the fact that she was pregnant. And who’s the father – where he is now? And why Catriona thought she couldn’t ask me for help. I spent a lot of time with her shortly after her mother died, which was around the same time that this must have happened. I talked to her a lot, and she to me. I let her down.’
‘You didn’t,’ Tamsyn said. ‘I think she couldn’t bear to talk about something she couldn’t even bear to think about. It happens. People try to hide from the things they are thinking and feeling all the time. There are things that both you and I have kept to ourselves, aren’t there? Even though they might be really, really obvious to others. People still feel afraid, and try not to notice the feelings.’ There was a pointed silence between them. ‘Anyway,’ Tamsyn ploughed on, ‘if you think about it, it was you that she had the most faith in.’
‘How do you work that out?’ Jed’s tone was weary, but warm, Tamsyn thought. She leant her ear towards him.
‘Well, it looks as if she was planning on entrusting Mo to you. She left her at the church, expecting you to find her. And that is exactly the way it would have worked if it hadn’t been for the storm, and for me and Buoy. You would have found her. Catriona trusted you with her.’
There was silence on the other end of the line, and even though she couldn’t see his face, somehow Tamsyn could feel the sadness in Jed, the exhaustion and the worry. She wished she could put her arms around him and hug him, the way she had under the kitchen table, only perhaps without the cramp and the numb bottom, the inappropriate topless kissing and the awkward aftermath.
‘Where are you going to go now?’ she asked him. ‘Not back to that draughty old vicarage to be alone?’
‘No,’ Jed said. ‘I’m going to stay here, at the hospital, in case she wakes up and wants to talk. I’m not really supposed to stay the night, but the nurses seem very friendly, and they’ve said I can sleep on the sofa in the family room if I promise not to bother anyone.’
‘Ah, those friendly nurses,’ Tamsyn smiled, imagining what an impact the handsome, caring, distraught young vicar would have on the nursing staff. ‘But you won’t forget to come and marry Ruan?’ Tamsyn asked him. ‘I’ve nearly finished the dress; the sewing circle has been so amazing.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Jed said. ‘Funny to think how much has happened since I found you under that tree. I feel a little bit like I met you, and my whole life changed in an instant.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ Tamsyn said unhappily.
‘Don’t be sorry,’ Jed said. ‘I’m not. Tamsyn, you know what you said about how people try not to know things that they know …?’
There was a series of beeps and the call ended. When Tamsyn tried to return the call and it went straight to Jed’s voicemail, she guessed that his battery must have died. She listened to the sound of his voice on the answerphone, but didn’t leave a message. She had no idea what to say.
Everyone was waiting as she went back into the dining room.
‘They think she’s going to be fine,’ Tamsyn told them, taking Mo from Keira’s arms and kissing her on the tip of her nose. ‘Did you hear that, my little one? Your mummy is going to be fine.’
Tamsyn woke up on a chaise longue in the dining room, her eyes snapping open as the first light of the June dawn flooded in through the huge windows. She had meant to go to her room after Mo’s last feed at about three, and had just closed her eyes for a moment, but clearly things hadn’t worked out quite the way she planned them. It took a moment or two for the events of yesterday to come flooding back to her and she sat up in a panic, wondering if she had also forgotten to finish the dress, but there it was, in all its splendour, hanging from a chandelier. And truth be told, it really was a little bit wonderful.
Picking Mo up, who, it seemed, had been guarded all night by Buoy, who was stretched out at the side of her carrycot, Tamsyn looked at the gown, sparkling like the sea in the morning sunshine, and felt a rush of happiness surge through her. She had made this; she had created this dress from scratch and it was hers – well, it was Alex’s, but hers too. The last twenty-four hours of frenzied designing and sewing had created something that would always be special to its recipient, not just for a day or a season, but for ever. And it was the most wonderful feeling.
‘Do you know what, Mo?’ Tamsyn said. ‘I think I might have found my vocation.’
There was a cough behind her, and Tamsyn turned to see Alex, wide-eyed and white as a sheet, her dark hair tousled and tangled, looking like she hadn’t had a wink of sleep.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘but I am getting married today and I thought it was a bit odd that everyone at the wedding has seen the dress except for me, the bride, in person.’
‘Or the groom,’ Tamsyn said, beckoning her in. ‘Here,’ she stood aside to reveal the dress. ‘What do you think?’
As Alex took in the gown, her eyes filled with tears and her mouth dropped open.
‘Oh God, do you hate it?’ Tamsyn asked her. ‘Did I get it wrong? I really thought I’d got it right. That’s my design strength, you know, sensing what a client really wants. Or at least, I thought it was. Well, if the worst comes to the worst I can get a job as a waitress.’
‘No … it’s perfect.’ Alex’s voice was thick with emotion. ‘It’s beautiful. It’s so much better than the one I chose for myself. And yet, it
is
the dress I would have chosen for myself. How did you know?’
‘I was inspired by the Lady in Blue in the portrait in the hallway,’ Tamsyn said. ‘I know everyone wants to be married in white, but I don’t know why. Your eyes are so stunning, and this pale blue colour matches them perfectly. Those panels come from a nineteen fifties evening gown that I found in the attic. I beaded and corseted the bodice to fit you exactly, so that you shouldn’t need any underwear. Want to put it on?’
‘Yes!’ Alex said.
Laughing, Tamsyn laid Mo down on her mat next to Buoy and helped Alex step into the dress, lacing it up at the back. She was relieved to see that it fitted like a glove, pulling Alex’s waist in and making the most of her generous curves. With her dark hair flowing around her bare shoulders, the colour of the gown matched her eyes, just as Tamsyn imagined.
‘You look like a mermaid,’ Alex said, ‘or Aphrodite. You look beautiful.’
Leading Alex over to a huge mirror that hung at one end of the room, Tamsyn helped her up onto the footstool so she could check the length of the gown and make sure that everything was perfect. Tamsyn was pleased and impressed that the sewing circle had followed her instructions to the letter and there was nothing that needed to be altered. Alex stared at herself in the mirror.
‘Oh Tamsyn,’ she whispered. ‘Thank you.’
‘Well, thank
you
, actually,’ Tamsyn said. ‘Yesterday I had this crazy moment where I finished with my boyfriend and changed track on my career, and I wasn’t sure why I did, or if I did it for the right reasons. But now I think I know. I think I’m going to come back to Cornwall to start my own couture wedding-gowns label. Because that’s what I want to do, and I want to do it here, where there are craftswomen and a craftsman who can make garments more beautiful than any I’ve seen for a long time, and I have the perfect business manager in waiting, even though Sue doesn’t know it yet. I’m going to turn Poldore into a cottage industry.’
‘Really?’ Alex might not have been listening quite as attentively as Tamsyn could have hoped for, but that was because she was twisting and turning in her gown, admiring herself from every angle. ‘I’d hug you, but I’m slightly afraid I’ll trip up over this skirt. And are you going to make sure that Jed doesn’t go through with this stupid idea of his to get out of Dodge. Are you going to tell him he has to stay here, and go out on dates with you because you went and fell for him and his general loveliness?’
‘Really?’ Tamsyn was stricken. ‘Am I that obvious?’
‘I think whatever it is that is happening between you and Jed is obvious to everyone. Even Buoy was talking about it the other day.’
Tamsyn laughed. ‘I know you’re joking, but I wouldn’t be surprised. That dog seems to know everything.’
‘Oh darling,’ Gloria gasped, as she walked in through the door with Laura, Keira and Cordelia, all of them in a selection of nighties and dressing gowns. ‘Oh my beautiful girl, you are stunning. The finest bride I’ve ever seen. I think there’s even a good chance you might move your father to tears when he arrives.’
Alex’s smile was radiant, and as her mother embraced her, Tamsyn’s mother smiled proudly at her daughter-in-law-to-be and at Tamsyn. ‘Oh, Tam, you are clever,’ she exclaimed. ‘And you know what they say: marry in blue, your lover is true!’ she added.