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In addition to the garden, she was busy with Victoria’s wedding. Now that she had a theme, she could move forward. And daily, things were added to her long list of what she had to do.
One evening Toby was deep into designing what would be historically correct flower arrangements when Graydon said, “Too bad you’re working so hard to make everything accurate when only the bride and groom will be in costume. Perhaps everyone should dress in that manner.”
Toby glanced at the guest list Victoria had given her. There were some very famous people, especially authors, on it. “How could we get the guests to dress in costume? That’s not something Americans like to do.”
“At home, I’d just tell them to,” Graydon said. “If they want to come to a ball at the palace, they dress up in whatever they’re told to wear.”
“But that was when you were a prince,” she said, looking down at her laptop. She didn’t see the way Daire and Lorcan exchanged smiles.
Graydon picked up his phone. “I think we should ask the American queen how to get the guests to do this.”
“Victoria,” Toby said, and Graydon nodded as she took his phone and tapped out HOW DO WE GET YOUR ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS TO DRESS IN COSTUME? and sent it.
It was only a minute before Victoria replied. OFFER PRIZES. THEY’RE ALL CUTTHROAT AMBITIOUS SO MAKE THEM COMPETE.
“Sounds good to me,” Graydon said. “Should we commission medals to be awarded?”
“How about dances with a prince?” Toby said.
Graydon’s eyes sparkled. “I’ll see if Rory can attend.”
Laughing, she went back to the planning, and again she didn’t see the look Daire and Lorcan gave each other.
When people responded just as Victoria said they would, Toby was deluged with calls. Every author wanted to know what every other author was going to wear. They said it was so there wouldn’t be duplicates. Victoria said it was so they could outdo one another. She explained that the number two New York Times bestselling authors wanted to make sure their costumes were more elaborate than the number one bestsellers. “But simplicity was the cornerstone of Regency dress,” Toby said.
“Tell that to number three on the list,” Victoria answered.
Between the garden and the wedding, Toby was nearly overwhelmed with work. Lorcan helped so much that she soon became Toby’s unofficial assistant. Toby loved to hear Lorcan on the phone with Victoria’s famous author friends. Lorcan was no-nonsense, gave no sympathy, and revealed all. She encouraged the competition with vivid descriptions of everything from hand-sewn pearls to shoes with crystal-encrusted buckles. When she clicked off, she g
ave Toby a wicked smile. It looked like Victoria’s wedding was going to sparkle!
Toby relayed everything to Victoria via email, as she was deep into writing her latest novel—this one about the misfortunes of Valentina Montgomery Kingsley.
“Does she cry while she’s writing?” Graydon asked at dinner.
At first Toby thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. His face was serious. “I don’t know,” Toby replied, “but I’ll ask Alix.”
“How did you know that?!” Alix said over the phone. “The last three times I talked to Mom she’d been crying while writing. She says it’s as though she’s lived this book and it’s tearing her heart out.” Alix gave a little sound of exasperation. “Of course her editor loves this! She says that if authors cry, readers cry, and tears sell books.”
“A bit callous,” Toby said, “but understandable. So what are you and Jared up to?”
That’s when Alix dropped the bombshell that Victoria wanted Toby to design the wedding dress.
“No,” Toby said firmly. “That’s the bride’s job, not mine.”
“That’s a good way to start,” Alix said, “but I bet you a dinner at Languedoc that Mom will win.”
“You’re on,” Toby said. “There are limits to planning a wedding for someone else.” Victoria won.
Days after the dinner, Victoria called Toby and said she wanted her to “deal with”—as she called it—her wedding gown.
“But I’m sure that is something you’ll want to do yourself,” Toby said, her voice as firm as she could make it.
“I would love to,” Victoria said, “but I didn’t get Valentina’s journal until recently, and I’m months behind on my deadline. My readers have never before had to wait this long, and besides, in this economy I can’t very well stop working, now, can I? You don’t want to disappoint millions of readers all over the world, do you?”
“I guess not,” Toby said, “but how am I to choose your wedding gown?” Her eyebrows were so high they were about to disappear into her hair.
Victoria didn’t hesitate. “Send me photos of appropriate dresses of that time period, I’ll choose one, then Martha and her marvelous ladies will make it for me.”
