perfect lace. I have been saving it for something very special.” She smiled at them and stood up, and they all shook hands. Eleanor and Louise left the boutique two hours after they’d arrived feeling as though they had found the Holy Grail, and so easily and quickly. The decision to meet with Jeanne Lanvin had been inspired. They were both silent as they got in their hired car to take them back to the Ritz. It was almost five minutes before Eleanor spoke to her mother.
“That was fantastic. I can see the dress perfectly, Mama.”
“You’re going to be the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” Louise said as tears filled her eyes and she leaned over and kissed her daughter.
“Will it cost a fortune?” Eleanor asked with a suddenly guilty look, all the embroidery Madame Lanvin had talked about, and the pearls, the lace she had been saving, and the “very, very, very long train.”
“Probably,” Louise answered with a grin. “Your father will be disappointed if it doesn’t. He wants you to have the best wedding dress we can have made here. I think we just found it. The rest is up to us, and Madame Lanvin.” Eleanor nodded, feeling dazed.
They had room service for dinner at the hotel that night, and went to bed early. Eleanor had another telegram from Alex telling her how much he loved her and missed her, and she went to bed, dreaming of bridal gowns and the incredibly talented Madame Lanvin.
* * *
—
They went to the Louvre the next day, and wandered in the Tuileries Garden. And they went to Sylvia Beach’s bookstore and the Librairie Galignani on the rue de Rivoli, to find some first editions to give Charles when they got home. And after their bookstore foray, they went to Angelina’s tearoom, with its elegant interior, for a cup of hot chocolate and their famous Mont Blanc pastry, made of chestnuts, meringue, and whipped cream.
Two days after their meeting, the promised sketches arrived at the hotel. The drawings were beautiful, and the wedding gown was magnificent, with every detail they had discussed part of the drawing. Eleanor wanted to frame it. It was like seeing a dream come to life. She could already imagine herself in it, and Alex looking bowled over when he saw her on their wedding day.
They called the boutique and made an appointment for the next morning. They arrived on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré at ten and the work began in earnest. One of Madame Lanvin’s premieres of the atelier, a highly respected position, presented the lace to them, as though showing them a jewel. It was the most beautiful lace Louise had ever seen. Then every inch of Eleanor’s body was measured, in centimeters, the size of her wrists, her neck, her waist, the distance between collarbone and the point of her breast, the center measure from her neck to her waist, both front and back, shoulder to elbow, upper hip to lower hip, her chest above her breasts, then below her breasts, from her neck to the floor, in both front and back. The measurements took time, and would be vital for making the pattern, first for the muslin, and later, much later, for the lace. They could not make mistakes with the lace, so the early fittings would be in muslin until they got it absolutely right. There was no margin for error, and there would be none. The beauty of haute couture was that it would be flawless when it was done. Perfection.
They had a week to spend exploring after that. They visited the Orangerie and the Jeu de Paume. The next day, they toured Versailles, which they had seen before, but it was still fascinating. And they visited Marie Antoinette’s private chambers.
The week flew by with daily exchanges of telegrams with Alex, constantly expressing his love for her, and how excited he was about the life they would share. He asked her questions about the dress, which she didn’t answer. She wanted everything about it to be a surprise for him.
On their second week in Paris, they ran into friends from San Francisco who were staying at the Crillon, and they met them for lunch at La Tour d’Argent before they left for the South of France. It was a nice distraction to help pass the time between fittings. Eleanor had started taking long walks every day, while her mother spent hours making notes about plans for the wedding.
A wedding