Chapter 9 Looking For The Perfect Dress

THE NEXT WEEK, Viviene searched the costume and theatrical agencies that provided fancy dress for hire, but there was nothing that struck her eye as right. She didn't want anything hackneyed or obvious. Whatever she wore to the masked ball had to be a challenge to Adrian Blackwood, a statement that expressed something positive, yet did not give her identity away.

Eventually she worked out an idea that held a piquancy of purpose that satisfied her, but to have it made up was a problem. The designers and society dressmakers who could take on such a job were inclined to gossip about what they had made for their patrons. If word got out, and she wouldn't put it past Adrian to cheat by trying to learn what she would wear, then it would be no genuine contest.

But for once luck smiled on her. She sold the Mercedes sports car and presented the proceeds to the women's shelter, insisting that some of the money be used to make the place more cosy and cheerful. One of the women who had sought refuge there was happy to make curtains and cushions, anything to get her mind off her wretched personal problems. When Vivienne admired her skilled workmanship, the woman offered the information that she had once worked in a designer's factory and knew all the professional tricks of making up quality clothes and furnishings. She was delighted at the generous proposition Vivienne put to her, and quite excited about making the costume and mask, elaborating on Vivienne's idea with all the enthusiasm of someone doing something really creative.

With that problem solved, Vivienne decided to take on a job as a locum. There were lots of positions on offer, since many doctors wanted to get away on holiday at this time of year. Vivienne found the wide experience of general practice more interesting and less pressurised than her previous hospital work.

She was kept busy, but not so rushed that she didn't have time to chat to her patients, and she liked that. Very much. She wanted to help people in more than a strictly medical sense. She wanted to reassure them, make them feel better. She knew all too well what it was like not to have someone who would listen ... and care.

****

Christmas came. Sir Gabriel Carter presented Vivienne with a magnificent pearl necklace and matching earrings. Vivienne gave him a small but exquisitely dainty Lladro figurine of a mermaid.

'If you're still buying the Te Enata island, I'd hate to think there wasn't something female around your "land of men",' she commented drily, embarrassed by his obvious pleasure in the gift. It was the first time she had given her father something that didn't proclaim itself a'duty' gift.

The truth was, she felt vaguely guilty about going to the masked ball because of Adrian. No matter what other reasons she used to bolster her decision, she knew they were of relatively minor consideration, and it seemed just a little two-faced to have refused her father's invitations to his home all these years, and then go because Adrian had chosen that venue for their duel. It had made her feel ... mean ... and she hadn't liked the feeling.

Sir Gabriel Carter frowned. 'Adrian keeps displaying interest in our offer for the island, but he hasn't declared himself openly...yet! He's waiting for something. And I don't know what.'

He looked across at Vivienne, and again that crawly sense of danger wriggled down Gabriel's spine. What was Adrian waiting for ... and why did he have this feeling that Vivienne was involved with it? He made a conscious effort to relax.

'Since the Mercedes is gone, I'll send my car for you on New Year's Eve,' he said with an encouraging smile. 'Aria and Xavier are looking forward to meeting you.'

'It should be interesting,' she said glibly, doubting the sincerity of her half-sister and half-brother. She could not imagine they would truly be in favour of having a cuckoo in the nest. After all, they could have come and met her at any time in the last twelve years if they had really been interested in her.

Her smile hid her thoughts. 'And thank you for the offer of the car, Father. I accept.' Since she was going to her father's home, she would go in the same style that was available to Aria and Xavier.

Sir Gabriel Carter tried another invitation. 'Why not join us for Christmas dinner, Vivienne? It would make ...'

'I'm afraid that's impossible, Father,' she interrupted, smoothly and decisively. 'I'm on call for the surgery where I'm working at the moment. All day.'And that was that.

But Sir Gabriel carried some satisfaction away with him. Her gift of the mermaid figurine-the thought... the impulse behind it-was the first crack in twelve years of ice.

****

The next six days passed quickly for Viviene, speeded along by a growing sense of exhilarating anticipation. Her costume and mask were finished and she was absolutely thrilled with the effect created. Her mind was endlessly teased by what Adrian might choose to wear, and she amused herself thinking up various lines she could say when she unmasked him! Faust ... Mephistopheles... Casanova... Rasputin ... those were the identities that suited his character, but Vivienne didn't underestimate his deviousness.

He would be out to trick her, but she was certain she would know him as soon as she saw him. Adrian Blackwood was far too distinctive a personality for him to escape her eye.

Vivienne had the day off work on New Year's Eve. She went to her hairdresser and had lighter streaks put through her dark blonde hair. The long tresses were softly curled and allowed to flow free. The effect was precisely what she wanted. When it finally came time to dress for the ball, Vivienne was almost bubbling with excitement. The skirt of her costume was an artistic masterpiece: handkerchief drifts of chiffon graduating upwards from black and midnight purple to a mauve-grey with hints of palest pink and lemon nearing the waistline. The seed pearls and mother-of-pearl sequins on the sculptured belt picked up these shades and threw them up to the white strapless bodice which was gathered into a sunray pattern of tiny pleats.

The pearls her father had given her for Christmas were a perfect accompaniment to her costume and it also seemed fitting to wear them as a gesture of good will. Vivienne still felt uncomfortable about taking up her father's invitation when she knew her acceptance had nothing to do with a conciliatory meeting on his home ground.

She shook off the feeling and concentrated on positioning the mask correctly. It half covered her face and was fitted to a crown-like head-dress which featured five star-like points spread across the top of her head from ear to ear, creating the pictorial image of a pale sun rising and glittering with the same sequins and seed-pearls that were on her belt. The mask openings for her eyes were similarly decorated, achieving a wonderfully exotic effect.

Vivienne grinned happily at her reflection in the mirror. Comes the dawn ... for Adrian Blackwood. She would show him the light, if he tried to work any of his dark designs on her. She laughed in sheer exuberance at the contest ahead of her. He would never recognise her in this mask, and with her hair done so differently.

She almost danced out of her bedroom to answer the doorbell when it rang, and could not help smiling when her father's chauffeur looked stunned at her appearance.

'Miss Vivienne...' He shook his head, momentarily speechless.

'Will I do, Jeffrey?' she asked, and twirled around for him.

The chauffeur was a kindly man who had been working for her father for over thirty years. He had driven her to boarding-school on her first day there, and had always shown a friendly interest in her.

'You'll be belle of the ball, Miss Vivienne,' he declared warmly. 'I reckon Sir Carter will be bursting to show you off to everyone.'

'That's not what I want, Jeffrey,' she said drily.

The old chauffeur sighed. 'Only natural,' he muttered. 'You don't know how proud he is of you, Miss Vivienne.'

Proud? Vivienne queried in her mind. He hadn't been proud enough to even acknowledge her as a child. But perhaps it was different now, and there was some pride in her. Why else did he persist in being part of her life, and wanting her to be part of his?

She locked her apartment and accompanied the chauffeur down to her father's Rolls-Royce. It was not a long drive from her apartment block at Bondi Beach to the famed mansion-Huntingdon-at Point Piper.

Vivienne had often wondered if Sir Gabriel Carter had bought the place because its name was so similar in sound to his own, or simply because it was an affirmation of his vast wealth.