Judging from the way Gretchen’s aunt had dressed, Madame Koska knew that the level of elegance at the Christmas house party would be demanding. She liked to describe her own wardrobe as “adequate,” but of course her clothes were much more than that. Years of professional haute couture were responsible for an exquisite array of clothes, always in the latest fashion, never gaudy or overstated, never too showy, always the right kind to enhance her patrician beauty in every stage of her life, at present in her late forties. Madame Koska held firmly to the idea that a woman could look wonderful at any age, with just a little thought and planning, and long ago had decided to always be a living proof to such conviction.
Preparing for the three Christmas days visit, she spent some time packing everything in large quantities of tissue paper and placing the garments in two suitcases and three hat boxes. She made sure her dresses, lingerie, nightgowns, shoes, cosmetics, and jewelry would arrive with little wrinkling or any other damage. She assumed a housemaid would help her unpack and iron what was necessary when arriving at the country house, but the less needed to be done, the better. Whenever she traveled, she liked to arrive at her destination and find out that everything needed only hanging and airing. Two morning outfits, since she would be wearing the third as she traveled, three afternoon ensembles, and two evening gowns would have been sufficient, but she added some alternates in case a change was needed from an afternoon ensemble to a specialized tea gown, depending on the habits of the house. It was essential that no outfit would be worn more than once. As for the shoes, she took two high-heeled pairs for the nights, three medium-heeled for afternoon or tea time, and two sturdy pairs of walking shoes for the mornings, in case a walk in the woods or park was suggested.
When done, she suddenly realized she had forgotten her cigarette holders, something that happened often, for some reason, and was a source of irritation to her, since she knew that they had to match her clothes and jewelry. Shaking her head and imagining how mortified she would have been to find herself with only one cigarette holder for three full days, she opened the bottom drawer of the tallboy that held all her accessories. She had a huge assortment of cigarette holders, some given to her as gifts, some that she bought herself over the years, and as she sorted through them she found a beautiful ivory and gold holder she had not used for a while. It was a gift from her husband. She smiled wistfully at the memory of how he took her to the store to buy it and explained to the then very young woman that every accessory made a big difference to the overall appearance she wished to create. Grigory was doing well at the time, his atelier highly successful… and he really taught her so much; she owed him everything she knew about haute couture, and without him she would have remained a seamstress with an unfulfilled dream of success.
Madame Koska shivered and rewrapped her warm dressing gown around her, tying the belt in a tighter knot around her slim waste. Le Cochon… she never really grew to hate him, despite the lies, particularly the embezzling scandal that caused her so much distress when it was discovered. The horror of suddenly discovering that Grigory disappeared without a trace, leaving her to face the angry creditors and the legal issues, was almost overwhelming, but she prevailed. So many years later, she understood that Grigory knew she could do so much better than he could, that nothing on earth could crush her indomitable spirit… but why did he have to embezzle at all? That was a question that she could never answer. Well, so much about Grigory was shrouded in mystery anyway, and he was probably long dead by now.
But what if he did not die, she suddenly thought. What if he suddenly reappeared in her life… would she welcome him? Probably not, he was no longer a part of the way she saw herself, nor did she want to be married. She preferred, in all honestly, to make her own decisions, and Grigory had a very strong personality that would not allow that. Would she be able to resist his charm, his grace, the good looks he kept intact into middle age? That would be another question… even to Madame Golitsyn, her best friend and trusted confidant, she never confessed how attractive Grigory was, or how much she loved him through their entire sham marriage.
Madame Koska shrugged, and with a smile, shook off the unexpected and uncharacteristic lapse into sentimentality. She picked up the seven holders she had selected, and put them with the rest of the accessories in her luggage. Grigory’s gift, the ivory and gold holder, would suit her travelling ensemble very well, she thought, and laid it near the choice of jewelry for the visit.
Seven
The journey to the country house was not very long, and in about two or three hours of trains and taxis Madame Koska found herself in front of the Howards’ country house. An enormous edifice with many windows stared at her under the pale, early afternoon sun. The landscape in winter was not as attractive as it would be in summer, but she could see that the grounds stretched into the distance and had wonderful old trees and huge lawns.
She paid the taxi driver and climbed a few stairs to the heavy wooden door, flanked by two ivy-covered columns. The climbing vines created an attractive lattice work on the white marble, and she thought how beautiful they would appear against it when green in the spring. As always, her designing brain registered how exciting the color combination could be, and an image of a Grecian-style dress in white, green, and driftwood-brown manifested itself to her inner eye. Making a mental note to remember it for future designs, she rang the bell. A smartly uniformed manservant opened the door, and went immediately to attend to her luggage. Another servant, a housemaid, took her furs and ushered her into the drawing room, where several guests were already gathered. Mrs. Howard rose to greet her.
“You must be so cold,” said Mrs. Howard hospitably. “I am sure it is going to snow soon. Come and have a glass of port and some biscuits. It will be about half an hour before lunch is served, and you must be famished as well. Or would you rather go upstairs and rest?”
“Oh, no, I am not tired at all,” said Madame Koska; she was quite used to travelling much larger distances and in worse weather, as she had done so often for business.
“Well, then, allow me to make the introductions… but of course you already know Mr. Korolenko.”
“Yes indeed, Mr. Korolenko,” said Madame Koska. “I had no idea you vere one of the party. How nice to see you.”
There were Lord and Lady Plunkett from Ireland, Mr. and Mrs. Winston from London, and the Misses Plimpton-Anderson who had just returned from India where they spent a few months with their father, a highly placed government official. Their home was in the south of England, they told Madame Koska, but they were to stay a few weeks with their old friends the Howards. All the ladies were excited to meet Madame Koska and wanted to know all about her new collection. Mr. Howard and Gretchen were not there, as they had gone for lunch at a neighboring estate, where a friend of Gretchen was home for Christmas from her finishing school in Switzerland.
“How long does it take to create the collection?” asked Lady Plunkett. “Please, Madame Koska, I would greatly love an invitation.”
“But of course, Lady Plunkett. I vill send invitations to all of you, vith your permission. It usually takes about three to four months to prepare a decent collection, and I have already arranged for a place in April,” said Madame Koska.