The Lost One: A Russian Legacy by Penelope Haines

Author:Penelope Haines [Haines, Penelope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY

London, 1955.

She wore a light cream suit, with a hat and short veil. Katya and Peggy were her attendants, and Mr Schwartz gave her away. There were only a few guests, but they were all dear to Marguerite. A few friends from the theatre had come to wish her well, which added glamour and touched her. Otherwise, as she said later to Eugene, “It was a day just to please ourselves.”

While Marguerite loved the store and her work, there were times when she felt too much in the public eye. She wanted Eugene to herself for once. Even so, an official photographer had been there to capture this bit of Dunnings history, and a journalist had been sent along to report on the day. Eugene regarded these things as necessary to build Dunnings’ profile. He was superb at making contacts and generating publicity for the company.

It had been a simple Church of England ceremony, this last having caused heated debate in the Komarov household. Edith maintained that Charles would have wanted his daughter married in a Russian Orthodox Church, which gave Marguerite a twinge of guilt. When consulted, Eugene said he had no particular preference, but Marguerite, conscious of his family’s reservations about her background, wanted to be as English as possible for the occasion.

True to Eugene’s word, she had gone to the altar a virgin.

“Fully entitled to wear white,” was the acid comment she made to Peggy as she was getting dressed for the occasion. Inadvertently, she made this statement within Edith’s hearing.

“I should hope so,” said Edith roundly. “How do you expect a man to respect you if you don’t respect yourself?”

Marguerite shared a look with Peggy in the mirror, and Peggy rolled her eyes. “Oh well,” she murmured, “I suppose I’ll have to skip the respect and just concentrate on their bank balance.”

Edith was shocked. She wouldn’t say anything that marred Marguerite’s wedding, but she made a point of avoiding Peggy for the rest of the day.

They spent their honeymoon in a waterfront hotel in Brighton. Both Eugene and Marguerite agreed they couldn’t afford to be away from the store for too long.

After her long wait, and eagerness to divest herself of her virginity, Marguerite took to the marital bed with enthusiasm. After some initial discomfort, she found the process to be pleasant, and often a good deal more than just pleasant. She liked the intimacy, and the way her mood improved after the act. She enjoyed pleasing Eugene, and it seemed he was very pleased with his bride. Her initial shyness faded as she learned her power to please or tease him.

She became more aware of herself, and it affected her approach as to how she presented herself. She began to appreciate what Peggy, who’d had experience in these matters, had been trying to say and share with her.

“If you don’t know that you don’t know something, then it’s hard to imagine what that something is,” she said to her friend.

Peggy giggled. “Hm, that’s a little muddled, but I take your point.

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