Serial Fun - Installment 6

 

I got muslin one sewed up and pinned on, then made alterations to the pattern.  We'll cut out muslin 2 tomorrow.  I scooped the front neck a bit, lowered the bust shaping an inch and a half, and smoothed out the hip shaping considerably; I had a weird bubble there. I also shortened it 2" and increased the length of the back vent...it looked a bit skimpy.  The shoulders/ armsceye/ upper chest fit pretty well, which is good.  If that area is good,  think I can get the rest.  Eventually.  I walked the seamline on the pattern...should have done that before I cut anything...and discovered that I was taking about 3/4" too much up in the dart; the front side seam was shorter than the back side seam.  I wrangled that a bit but I think I have it correct now.  If my paperfolding was accurate, lol.

But still nothing worthy of a photo; so I'll slap up the next installment on the frivolity.  I have noticed the page views dropping so I'm guessing folks are getting bored with the story but I'm kinda committed to it now, lol.  HERE is the link to the previous installments; most recent first, if you're behind and want to catch up. Or you can quit here because that's the current status of my MOG dress...

Rita puzzled over the gown as she dressed for dinner.  Esmerelda didn’t bustle in to help her dress until she was nearly finished, so she had plenty of time to mull it over.  It didn’t seem to help much, though.  She came up with absolutely nothing.  She was barely on time for dinner, and only half-listened to the conversations around her as she pondered the problem some more.  Even if the dressmakers weren’t swamped with orders for new ball gowns, it would be impossible to bring Isabella in for a fitting.  Rita knew her own dresses would never do...Isabella was two or three inches taller, and certainly not shaped like an adolescent.  It was a problem.  Suddenly, one of the ladies asked Rita if she was excited about the ball.  Rita glanced at her mother, who smiled at her.  “Well, I’m looking forward to seeing Gregory again, and it will be fun to see all the people dressed up and dancing, but I won’t be attending any balls or hunts until my sixteenth birthday.”

            “Oh, I’d forgotten.”  It was one of her mother’s cousins who’d asked the question, and she was now acutely embarrassed.  She had only been trying to include Rita in the ladies’ conversation, so she tried a different topic.  “Won’t it be thrilling if the Prince selects a new sister-in-law for you at the ball?  There will certainly be a good number of young ladies there hoping to catch his eye!”

            Rita’s mouth went dry.  “Yes,” she reluctantly agreed, “I’m sure there will be.”  To Rita’s relief, the conversation moved away from her as several of the ladies discussed possible matches for the Prince.  She bit her lip, worried.  Gregory had to notice Isabella -- he just had to!

            When Rita went back to her room that night, she was still racking her brain trying to think of how to get a gown for Isabella.  She hardly listened to Esmerelda’s chatter as she bathed and dressed for bed, when suddenly she realized Es was talking about -- of all things -- ball gowns.  Rita began to listen very carefully to what Esmerelda had to say.

            “It’s a shame, that’s what it is, to make these poor seamstresses work around the clock making new dresses.  Why, they’ll get worn once and then discarded, just like all those others.”

            “What others, Es?”  Rita queried as Esmerelda brushed the Princess’s long, dark hair.

            The brush stopped for an instant, then continued.  “I don’t guess you’d know about it, would you?  In the storage room in the west wing are trunks and trunks of ball gowns, the majority of which are perfectly good, except for being stored for so long.”

            Rita was curious.  Perhaps she could find a dress for Isabella, after all.  “Where’d they come from?”

            Esmerelda continued brushing.  “Oh, various places.  Periodically, the dresses are auctioned off, and the proceeds will go to a worthy cause, but that hasn’t been done for a long time.  Most of the dresses are given to the collection for the charity auction, but a surprising number of them have just been left at the palace by visiting dignitaries’ wives.”

            “Just...left?”  Rita was amazed.  Why would anyone just abandon a beautiful ball gown?

            Esmerelda nodded grimly as she parted Rita’s hair down the middle.  “You’d be surprised how many of these noble ladies would be embarrassed to wear the same dress to more than one formal ball.”  Es began braiding the Princess’s hair.  “All those dresses, stuffed into trunks in the attic.  And if the ladies of the area would just wear them, then the seamstresses wouldn’t be worked to death next week.”

            Rita began to get excited.  Surely, one of those dresses would suit Isabella!  She calmed herself before she spoke.  “Are they really pretty?”

            Esmerelda tied off one braid and began the other.  “I haven’t been up there for a while, but I remember some of the dresses.  Yes, there are some very pretty ones...and some with some juicy stories.” 

            Rita could see that Esmerelda was more than just a little interested in the dresses; good, it wouldn’t take much to persuade her.  “Esmerelda, do you suppose we could go have a look at them?  Saturday morning, maybe?” 

            Esmerelda tied off the other braid, then looked at Rita and giggled.  “You know, that might be fun.  I’d like to see them...why not!”

            That was even easier than Rita had expected.  And it might work!  She just might be able to find a dress!  Oh -- Isabella would need an invitation.  That, at least, would be simple.  Rita waited until Esmerelda had gone to dress for bed, then pulled a sheet of parchment paper from her desk drawer.  She dipped her pen in the inkwell and carefully lettered “To the Lady Isabella Savoy.”  When she finished, she sealed the envelope and put it into her desk drawer and crawled into bed.  She was so excited over the possibility of getting Isabella to the ball (-- Won’t she be surprised! Rita had to stifle a giggle at that thought), that she expected to lie awake forever.  Instead, the bed felt surprisingly soft and Rita was asleep before Esmerelda blew out the lamps.

 

            Somehow, Rita managed to survive Friday’s lessons.  If her tutor noticed she seemed a bit preoccupied, he put it down to the fact that she was anticipating the Prince’s return and said nothing.  Rita herself felt as if she fidgeted all day.  She sent Esmerelda to help make additional preparations for the next week’s festivities and spent the afternoon rummaging around in her wardrobe for things that she could share with Isabella.  She was fairly certain that Isabella could adjust the drawstring on the crinoline enough to fit; it would be a bit short, but under a gown --oh, please, let there be a gown! Rita half prayed -- it wouldn’t show that much.  She found a pair of long gloves that were a bit big for her so Isabella wouldn’t have to feel self-conscious about her work-worn hands.  She put the things on a hanger in the far corner of the wardrobe and pulled one of her muslin dust covers over them.  Hopefully, Esmerelda wouldn’t notice them.  She made as much preparation as she could without knowing what kind of a dress she might find.  The day seemed to go on forever, but at last she crawled into bed for a rather restless night.  Sometime around two a.m., Rita sat up in bed, frustrated.  --If I’m this keyed up just about a dress, she wondered, --what on earth am I going to be like before the ball? She flopped back into bed.  “Go to sleep!” she whispered sternly to herself.  Either her subconscious listened or she finally was exhausted enough to overcome her nerves, because she finally fell asleep.  The next thing she knew Esmerelda was calling to her that she would be late for breakfast if she didn’t hurry and get up.

            Finally, breakfast was over and Rita and Esmerelda were wandering about in the west wing store room.  There were so many trunks, boxes, racks of clothes hanging under dust covers...Rita was overwhelmed, not knowing where to start.  She looked at Esmerelda.  “Do you know what’s in any of these?”

            Esmerelda frowned.  “Well, I helped put away the things from the last donation....let’s see....”  She looked under a couple of the dust covers, then pulled on a large trunk.  “I think this one has some things in it that I know...”  Between the two of them, they managed to get the trunk out where they could open it.  Sure enough, it was filled with gowns, crinolines, and other trappings.  Rita was delighted.  The first dress out of the trunk was a blue taffeta...obviously made for a rather large woman.  Esmerelda draped it carefully over a second trunk while observing “I don’t know anything about this dress...”  Rita pulled out a sea green silk dress that looked like it would be a possibility...until she noticed a dark stain down the front of the skirt.   Esmerelda clucked when she saw the dress.  “Oh, la, now, I remember this one!”

            “You do?  Do you know what’s on it?”  This was going to be fun!

            Esmerelda nodded with a bit of malicious glee.  “Oh, it was the talk of the court gossip for a good little bit.  Let’s see... it would have been four or five years ago, I guess.  There was one particular diplomat from Paris who was at court for awhile.  His wife was a...well, I suppose the delicate way of putting it would be that she was a bit free with her affections.  It was at a formal dinner party that she had a confrontation with the wife of one of the gentlemen that...well, rumor had it she’d been a bit free with.  Anyway, a glass of wine was ‘accidentally’ spilled down the front of the loose lady’s skirt and there was a terrible scene.  The next day, the Parisian diplomat took his wife back to Paris in disgrace, and the dress was found in a heap in the wardrobe of their room.  It was cleaned, of course, but the stain had already set.”  She frowned.  “I suppose a skilled dressmaker could replace the front panel of the skirt...if the fabric could be matched.  This is such an odd green.”

            Rita’s eyes widened.  “I had no idea...are there many stories like that?”

            Esmerelda shook her head.  “Oh, there are some, for sure, that I remember from when I used to help organize things for the charity auction, but I haven’t worked up here for several years now and there are more dresses than I recall.  We should have another auction soon.”

            “Who buys the dresses?”  Rita couldn’t imagine any of her mother’s friends condescending to wearing a used dress.

            Esmerelda shook out the green silk gown again and carefully laid it over the blue taffeta as she answered.  “Oh, tradesmen’s wives, generally.  They don’t come to the royal balls, but they do have their own social functions.  They can buy these gowns fairly cheaply, and then the dressmakers alter them slightly.  The dresses get used, the money raised goes to charity, and the royal storeroom gets emptied out.  It benefits everyone, I suppose.  It was one of your grandmother’s ideas.”

            More dresses, fine accessories and foundation garments followed, but nothing that looked like it would be suitable for Isabella.  Back into the trunk it all went, and another trunk was opened, but again only matronly fashions were included.  The third trunk was an odd shade of green, and it appeared that this would be a repeat of the earlier two.  The first dress out was a cream velvet that had a couple of moth holes in the bodice...then there were two crinolines and a set of panniers.  Then, a sky-blue dressing gown that looked as if it would fit Rita.  Rita, feeling her frustration rising, was beginning to wonder if they would have to open yet another trunk when Esmerelda pulled out a dress that made Rita gasp.  “This is pretty, isn’t it?”  Es commented as she shook it out.

            Rita reached for it.  It was a rich rose silk brocade.  She held it up to herself, trying to compare the too-long dress to her mental image of Isabella.  It would fit...she felt sure it would fit.  Plus, there were no wine stains, moth holes or other problems with the dress that she could see.  “Do you know where this one came from?” she queried.  There was something familiar about the dress...but it couldn’t be one of her mother’s old dresses...why did it seem familiar?

            Esmerelda was shaking her head.  “I think this one was one of the charity donations...but I don’t know anything else about it.”  She reached into the trunk again.  “Well, this is the last one,” she observed, pulling out a copper-colored taffeta.

            Rita looked at the dress, more out of courtesy than anything else.  She was sure she had the dress for Isabella in her hand.  Suddenly, a thought hit her as Esmerelda held the copper dress up.  “Es, I think that dress would fit you.”

            Esmerelda blushed as she quickly folded the dress.  “Oh, I’ve no need for a fancy ball gown.  I’ll be dressed in my best, but I’ll be helping tend the ladies’ lounge.  No dancing for me...as if I’d be any good at those dances, anyway.”  She bent over to put the dress back in the trunk, then smiled and pulled out something.  “Maybe if I put this on, I could get in, do you think?”  She held a bejeweled pink satin half-mask -- the kind worn to the annual masked ball on New Year’s Eve -- up to her face.

            Rita laughed.  “I don’t know...you still wouldn’t know how to do a minuet...”  She held out her hand for a closer look.  Esmerelda dropped the mask into her hand and began replacing the things they’d taken from the trunk.  Rita still held the rose brocade gown as she turned the mask over.  The pink satin didn’t exactly match the rose of the dress, but it was close enough, she thought.  Would Isabella go masked to a formal ball?  Rita bit her lip, thinking.  It would certainly solve the problem of her stepmother or stepsisters recognizing her.... Suddenly, she realized Esmerelda had asked for the dress in her hands.  “Oh.”  Rita handed it to her, frowning.  She watched as Esmerelda carefully tucked it back into the trunk.  At least it was the only green trunk in the room...it would be easy to find the dress again.  If she could get up here and if she could manage to have it cleaned and pressed.  She decided to take a chance.  “Es...do we really have to put it back?”

            Esmerelda looked up at her, mildly puzzled.  “Well, what else could we do with it?”

            Rita shrugged and said rather lamely, “Oh, I don’t know...it just seems too pretty to box back up again.  I think it would be even prettier if it were clean and pressed.  It seems like such a waste.”

            Esmerelda nodded grimly as she shut the lid to the trunk.  “I know.  And there’s probably two dozen dresses in these other trunks that are just as pretty and just as wasted.  That’s what I was saying the other night.  Every seamstress in the kingdom will be working ‘round the clock all week to make new dresses, when there are plenty of perfectly good dresses right here.  It just doesn’t seem right.”

            Rita pressed her luck.  “Es...I know someone who might wear that dress, if it were cleaned and if she didn’t know where it came from.”

            Esmerelda looked up sharply.  “Who?”

            Rita hesitated.  “Well, it’s someone who’s just a little older than me that I overheard lamenting the fact that she didn’t have anything new to wear, and her mother was having trouble engaging a seamstress for them.  I don’t get to spend much time with the other girls my age -- most of them are gone to school, and I thought it might be nice to try and help out someone.”  Rita hoped that she was neither telling too big of a lie or telling too much of the truth.

            Esmerelda’s eyebrows went up.  “I daresay you’re talking about Lady Sophia Gresham.  If you can get her to wear a used dress, you’ll be doing a wonder.  Still...”  Esmerelda’s voice trailed off as she opened the trunk and took out the rose dress.  She shook it out again and held it up.  “It might fit Lady Sophia...but it may be too outdated for her, with those puffy sleeves and all.”  She grinned at Rita.  “But it is a pretty dress… if she didn’t know where it came from, it might work.”  She closed the trunk and nodded, becoming a co-conspirator.  “We’ll give it a try.  I’ll get the dress freshened up, and I’ll swear the laundress to secrecy.”  She glanced at her brooch watch.  “Oh...it’s later than I thought.  We'll have to hurry for luncheon.”  She bustled the Princess out of the storeroom as if she were six years old, but Rita was so exultant at actually succeeding in getting the dress out of storage that she took no notice.  So, Es thought she was going to try to get that snooty Lady Sophia to wear the dress!  Well, if it worked, it worked.

            “Let me talk to her about it.”  Rita wanted to make sure Esmerelda didn’t cause trouble.  “If she doesn’t want it, well, I tried.  But if she even suspects that anyone could find out it was a used dress...”

            Esmerelda chuckled, obviously delighted to try and give the poor dressmakers even a small reprieve.  “Oh, I’ll let you handle it, Your Highness.”  She hadn’t even noticed that Rita had carried out the mask.

 To be continued...