A Veil of Vines by Tillie Cole

Author:Tillie Cole [Cole, Tillie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tillie Cole Ltd.
Published: 2016-11-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Caresa

“It will be long-sleeved, as all royal dresses should be, yes? Lace sleeves and a v-neckline and a silk skirt?” I stood on a raised plinth as Julietta, my wedding dress designer, took my measurements. She whipped around me like a cyclone as she measured my legs, my waist, my chest and finally my arms. When she was done, she linked my arm and brought me to the table and chairs in my living room.

She turned to another page of the sketchbook lying on the tabletop. Her flawless design for the dress of my dreams had been on page one. Her ideas for my hair and makeup were on page two. And when she turned to the third page, I felt the tears immediately fill my eyes.

“Your dream veil, no?” Juiletta asked, in English. Since she had arrived, she had insisted that she speak English. She said she needed the practice. I had only spoken Italian in weeks. Only over the phone to Marietta did I use English. It was nice to feel my tongue wrap around such familiar-sounding words.

My finger ran along the design, sketched out in charcoal pencil, except for the silken vines that were drawn in shimmering silver. It was floor length with a long train, exactly like I had always dreamed. It had Spanish lace around the front, perfectly suited to a Catholic duomo ceremony.

It was everything I had ever wanted.

“Well?” Julietta said. “Is it good?”

I nodded, my throat struggling to push out any words. But it was not because I was left speechless by the design—even though it was as if she had taken the picture straight from my mind—but because of the heavy ache I felt in my heart as I stared down at the veil I had envisioned wearing since I was a little girl. The veil I would wear when I married my prince.

It was all coming true. I was getting the veil. I had the prince . . . but I knew the reason for the ache in my heart.

I wasn’t marrying the right prince.

The truth was, I didn’t even want a prince at all.

“Bene!” Julietta said, slipping back into Italian. “I will get these back to my studio in Florence, and we shall begin to put it all together. We will have a fitting in a couple of weeks, then again a couple of weeks before the big day.”

I hadn’t realized I was staring off at nothing until Julietta waved her hand in front of my face. I blinked and forced on a smile. “I’m so sorry, I was in a complete daze for a moment there.”

Julietta laughed. “No doubt imagining marrying Prince Zeno in just a couple of months. You’re quite the envy of Florence.”

“Yes. So I’ve heard,” was all I said in response.

Julietta bade me a good day with a casual wave of her hand and left me alone in my rooms. I needed fresh air. I made my way to the balcony doors and stepped outside. The cool breeze flicked up my hair and sent shivers down my back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.