The Lost and Found Necklace by Louisa Leaman
Author:Louisa Leaman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2021-04-23T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter Eleven
Nancy looks thinner than ever. Her breathing is shallow, but her eyes still just about bear that twinkle. At the side of the bed, Jess has the envelope of Nancyâs Denmark Street photographs in her hand, hopeful that the sight of them might stir Nancyâs memory, ignite a reaction. She scatters them on the blanket, those vibrant images of teenage Nancy staring back.
âLook,â Jess whispers. âThis is you. This is you, Grandma, as a young woman wearing the necklace! Itâs not the actual necklace, I appreciate, butââshe squeezes Nancyâs handââIâve been working on that. Iâll have it soon, I promise.â
She flips one of the photos to reveal the sticker on the back.
ââPaul Angel Photography, 1954,ââ she reads. âWho is Paul Angel, Grandma? Do you remember when these were taken?â
Nancyâs gaze is fixed to the ceiling. Jess waves the photo in front of her, one of the best, in which sheâs standing with her arms foldedâa hint of her future attitude within that demure fifties circle dressâbut there is no discernable response.
âIâve been squirrelling around,â Jess persists, âseeing what I can find out about our Taylor women. I went to Wales and discovered these photographs in your desk at the cabin. Iâd love to know the story behind them. Your cabinâs fine, by the way. Still standingâjust. And I met with Bevan Floyd, who sends his best wishes. What a nice human! He showed me around Pel Tawr and told me all about Minnie and Emery and the making of the necklace. He even gave me Minnieâs sketchbook. And he talked about your mother, Anna, about her going off to America. So itâs true? You were born in Hollywood.â
She pats Nancyâs hand, expecting more silence, then suddenly Nancy springs into verbosity.
âOh yes, on good days, my mother was impeccable,â she exclaims. âSheâd set her hair, arrange her jewelryâearrings, brooches, hairpins, banglesâ¦she brought them all with her. On bad days, though, sheâd just lie on the sofa, drinking sweet sherry, endlessly lamenting her beloved Zedoraââ
âZedora?â
âYes, Jessy, with the gilded toilet handle that Lucille Ball was rumored to have broken.â
Jess laughs. âNow youâre really confusing me! What on earth is a Zedora?â
Nancy looks pensive.
âItâs all gone now.â
âWhat?â say Jess, tensing. âWhatâs gone, Grandma?â
Nancy sighs.
âHer life. My motherâs glamorous life. All her stories⦠They became nothing more than stories, from a world weâd never get back. Wake up, I used to think. Face it, move on. I knew better than to join her in the shadows of nostalgia, Jessy, because while those stories always began with jubilanceâ¦they finished with tears.â
Jess rests her chin on her hand, puzzled that these remarks donât match the audacious and vivacious image of Anna sheâd had in mind.
âWhat happened, Grandma, to make her so regretful?â
Nancy scowls.
âThatâs Annaâs business.â
âButââ
âWe came back to London and lived in a terrible place.â
âAre you talking about the tenement block?â says Jess, remembering how Nancy had sometimes talked of a grimy flat in Poplar, where sheâd spent her early teens.
âThat place,â she scowls. âThe surrounding streets were still pitted with bomb damage.
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