friend was sitting and placed it on the bed between them.
‘What’s this then?’ Nancy frowned.
‘Open it and find out,’ Amy ordered her.
Nancy hesitated for just a fraction of a second before cautiously lifting the lid to be confronted by a thick layer of fine white tissue paper.
‘Go on, go on,’ Amy demanded impatiently and as Nancy drew aside the paper her frown deepened.
‘I … I don’t understand.’ She drew back and suddenly Amy could stand the suspense no longer.
Delving into the box she quickly withdrew an ivory satin gown and holding it up by its shoulders she displayed it to her friend.
‘It’s your wedding dress, Nancy,’ she told her breathlessly. ‘I designed it myself and the seamstresses have been working all hours to finish it for me so that I could give it to you before I left for Paris. I have to admit, I sneaked into your room and measured your clothes to be sure I got the size just right. This is what I shot off to collect earlier on. You do like it, don’t you?’
Nancy was speechless and sat there open-mouthed as the smile slowly slid from Amy’s face.
‘You don’t like it, do you?’ she muttered miserably. ‘It’s my fault; I should have asked you what sort of styles you liked.’
To her horror, Nancy began to sob uncontrollably.
In the blink of an eye, Amy had laid the dress over the end of the bed and snatched the girl into her arms.
‘I’m so sorry, Nancy,’ she muttered, deeply distressed. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you, really I didn’t.’
‘Offend me, yer silly bugger!’ Nancy exclaimed as she pushed her roughly away. ‘Why, I can’t believe me bloody eyes. I’ve never seen a dress like it an’ I can’t believe that yer’ve done this fer me.’
Relief flooded across Amy’s face as she visibly relaxed. ‘So, you do like it then?’
‘Like it? Like it? Why, it’s the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen in the whole o’ me life. It would suit a bloody toff, that would. Not a guttersnipe like me.’
‘Rubbish!’ Amy retorted. ‘Now come along, I want to make sure that it fits. Let’s try it on, eh?’
Needing no second bidding, Nancy threw aside her shawl and dragged her cotton nightgown over her head. Amy helped her get into the garment and once she had fastened the row of tiny pearl buttons that ran from the neckline to the waist she adjusted the skirts and drew Nancy towards the full-length cheval mirror.
Nancy gazed astounded at her reflection. The gown fitted tight into the waist then ballooned out into a billowing skirt with a short, pearl-encrusted train trailing behind. The same heavy beading was all around the neckline and carried on to the leg of mutton sleeves.
‘Why, it fits like a glove!’ Amy exclaimed joyfully. ‘Now you’d better see the bonnet that I had made especially to go with it.’ Rushing again to the wardrobe, she withdrew another smaller box and carefully lifted out a bonnet in the same material as the dress.
She then placed it gently on Nancy’s head and tied the ribbons beneath her chin. It was a beautiful bonnet with pearls to match the ones on the gown sewn all around the brim. A short veil had been cleverly attached to its crown and now it floated around Nancy’s shoulders like filmy butterflies’ wings.
‘There,’ Amy said approvingly. ‘Your Billy will fall in love with you all over again when he sees you looking like this. I just know that you’re going to have a wonderful wedding!’
Tears suddenly slid again from Nancy’s eyes and her face became sad.
‘Oh Amy, I wish yer were goin’ to be there,’ she sobbed.
Taking her hands, Amy smiled. ‘But I will be there, every single second in my mind. You’ll think of me when you wear this and when I come back you’ll be able to tell me all about it. And all day I shall imagine you looking just as beautiful as you do now. So stop crying now, otherwise you’ll set me off too and you’ll get tear-stains all down your dress.’
Nancy giggled then hiccuped and within seconds they were both giggling.
The tears started again the next morning when Amy and Nancy said goodbye on the steps.
‘You just be careful now,’ Nancy warned. ‘I’ve ’eard tell what some o’ them Frenchies can be like. Remember Old Boney and what he got up to, eh?’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Amy told her as she hugged her. ‘You just worry about your wedding. Just think,