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“I think she wants to be helpful,” Sylvia said.

“Personally I’m shocked she’s still attending meetings. I didn’t think she’d last,” said Claire.

“Why is that?”

Claire leaned in. “Well, before she was Lady Winman, apparently she was just plain old Miss Carter, a writer for one of Lord Winman’s ladies’ magazines.

“The rumor is that Lord Winman took a liking to her. His mother, the Dowager Lady Winman, did her best to break the couple apart, but Lord Winman declared that he wouldn’t give Miss Carter up because he loved her too much. In the end, the Dowager Lady Winman had to concede because the count had to marry Miss Carter, if you understand my meaning.

“I’ve also heard that the Dowager Lady Winman nearly refused to hand over the Winman rubies when her son married,” Claire continued. “Can you imagine the indignity she must have felt when those jewels that have been in the family for nearly three centuries hung for the first time around the neck of a woman who writes columns? I would have died of embarrassment.”

Sylvia watched the smug smile on Claire’s face as her friend of years spread gossip about a woman whose only sin, as far as Sylvia could tell, was having had a career. Claire had always liked talking about who was doing what with whom, but Sylvia had never really minded. Her friend had been a fount of information that Sylvia could use as she tried to navigate all the unspoken relationships and rivalries that only people in the know would ever be privy to. But there was an edge to all of this gossip, and all at once Sylvia couldn’t be certain how far their friendship would stretch if Claire found out Sylvia’s secrets.

The daughter of a widowed seamstress who ran a shop.

A wife who couldn’t give her husband a child.

A woman who couldn’t keep a husband in her bed.

She could practically hear what Claire would whisper about her if she only knew.

“No wonder he ran to another woman. We never really knew anything about her or her people, but we were all willing to overlook that for Hugo’s sake. If you ask me, you always could tell that she’s not quite the thing. There’ve been little hints all along. It’s a good thing really that there never was a child.”

“Do you know,” said Sylvia, cutting off her own harsh thoughts, “I think that Lady Winman’s story is very romantic.”

“Romantic?” Claire laughed. “It’s preposterous.”

“A man who is in love decides that nothing will stand in the way of being with the woman he wants to be with? That is the sort of thing you see in films or read in novels,” she said.

Claire sniffed. “Well, I don’t know about that, but I would be careful about becoming too close to her. She might be a countess, but she’s not the right sort of countess, if you understand my meaning.”

“Claire, I think I understand your meaning perfectly.”

And she wasn’t certain why she’d ever tolerated it.

1 May 1942

Dear Lady Winman,

Thank you for your kind words about the dress that I wore to the recent meeting at Lady Nolan’s home. The dress shop is Mrs. Shelton’s Fashions at 4 Glengall Road, Maida Vale.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs. Hugo Pearsall

1 May 1942

Dear Mrs. Pearsall,

After much consideration of all of the ideas suggested at Wednesday’s committee meeting, I have decided that your suggestion of a fashion show displaying the creativity and talent of London’s best dressmakers is the most likely to receive the kind of attention and therefore charitable support that this committee wishes for the sake of our unfortunate war widows.

I will inform the other ladies of my decision at our next meeting on the 13th of May. In the meantime, I would ask you to begin to compile a list of dressmakers to approach as I do not wish for us to lose any time. We will keep the directive simple: they are to design and create an ensemble with the fall/winter season in mind that embraces the constraints of the austerity measures. You will please present this list to me so that I may approve it before you begin to approach any businesses.

I trust that, despite your recent rash of late attendance, you will be able to carry out this task in an efficient manner.

Yours faithfully,

Lady Nolan