Ivy wore a heavily beaded silver dress that left her shoulders and upper chest bare before falling like water down to her silver shoes. Her hair was completely hidden by one of the new-fashioned beaded caps. A fringe of beads dancing on her forehead made her violet eyes surrounded by their thick dark lashes stand out like jewels.
“Here!” Sadie bent to remove a white fur from a familiar box on the floor at her feet.
“I borrowed my aunt’s winter-wolf fur,” Ann Marie explained while Sadie stood behind Ivy holding the coat open. “None of my coats would be long enough for you Ivy.”
“Aunty Ivy,” Emmy said, staring, “you look like the Snow Queen out of my fairytale book.”
“Does that make me the Wicked Stepmother in Snow White?” Ann Marie, in crystal-encrusted black, asked.
“You both look like film stars,” Emmy said.
“Who is going to take the photographs?” Sadie couldn’t believe Ann Marie hadn’t been taking pictures of every moment of this day.
“I employed Milo for this evening.” Ann Marie was unwilling to let this important occasion pass without a pictorial record.
“We better get downstairs soon or you won’t have any men in your photographs, Ann Marie. I keep half expecting Jem to run down the street and check on things.”
“We’ll go down first.” Sadie took Emmy’s hand in hers. “I’ll tell Milo you’re ready,”
“Are we ready, Ivy?” Ann Marie felt slightly breathless. Edward had planned every stage of this development with military precision.
“Look out, Dublin,” Ivy grinned, “here we come!”
“Hold it,” Milo Norton shouted from the bottom of the staircase. “I want you to walk down the stairs one at a time. Then I’ll take one of the two women together.”
“I don’t think my knees will keep me upright if that fella doesn’t stop sending us up and down stairs like a yo-yo.” Ivy stood by Jem’s side, admiring the picture presented by Ann Marie and Edward O’Connor. The couple were standing on the staircase being photographed. She examined the tuxedo Edward was wearing, comparing it to Jem’s. To her eyes there was little difference between the Saville Row suit Edward wore and Mr Solomon’s creation for Jem. The two men looked breathtakingly handsome.
“I have to say, love, your brother knows what suits you.” Ivy’s brother Shay had insisted the garment she was wearing be included on the flights that carried the films they were showing this evening. “I don’t know what creams and potions Betty sent along but your skin is like ice cream. I want to bite it.” Betty Armstrong had moved to Hollywood, leaving Hannah Solomon to manage the New York branch of her business. Betty believed there was a fortune to be made in Hollywood.
Edward had set up a flight relay with friends from his army days. One man had flown from California to New York. A second man and plane had travelled from New York to Galway before Edward’s brother had flown the film and packages to Dublin. It had taken days instead of months. Edward believed the delivery would put their business ahead of everyone else. The showing tonight was an invitation-only Gala opening. The demand for tickets would fill their theatre for months.
“It’s time for us to leave.” Jem consulted his gold fob watch.
“I’d rather be one of the people watching us,” Ivy admitted.
There was a flurry of movement as the couples checked to see if they had everything they would need.
They stepped outside where a Rolls Royce was sitting in the driveway, its engine purring.
“Your man Armstrong doesn’t believe in doing anything by halves, does he?” Ivy gasped. The area around the theatre was floodlit. Lights lit up the sky and a red carpet was rolled out into the street.
“He is copying that theatre in New York that played the first talking film back in August,” Jem said. “The crowds in New York stopped traffic.”
William Armstrong was standing on the first-floor carpeted hallway. He might be in partnership with others but his name and face would lead the company. His eyes glanced over Ivy before snapping back. The bloody woman looked like something out of a magazine.
“I’m going to kill him,” Ivy whispered to Jem sitting alongside her.
She and everyone else were enthralled by the talking, singing, moving pictures. It was magical to see Shay open his mouth and words she could actually hear come out. He’d taken her breath away. In this second short film featuring Shay, he was singing to a young woman wearing the exact outfit Ivy was wearing. The bloody man had set her up for attention.
“It’s almost time for intermission,” Jem whispered. A long feature film with sound was not available yet but it was coming. He expected to make a fortune from this marvel.
Edward O’Connor sipped from his glass of champagne. They were standing in a group drinking champagne while the men congratulated each other on being the first to venture into this brand-new world of talking pictures.
“Ivy,” said Edward, “you look more beautiful than the woman on screen who had the temerity to wear your gown.”
William Armstrong and his wife Thelma were standing with them. “I saw some gentlemen of the press running out of here to publish their story,” said William. “Ivy, I must say you look a wonder. That brother of yours has a good head on his shoulders. Your wearing that outfit will set the tongues wagging which can only be good for our enterprise, gentlemen.” He hadn’t seen this outfit under the fur she’d been wearing.
“Truly stunning, Ivy,” Thelma Armstrong said.
“William, won’t you introduce my family to these people?” Cedric Williams called aloud as he approached the group. “After all, it is my son up there on the big screen, is it not?” He was aware of people turning to stare. He enjoyed the attention. “I’m sure everyone has noticed the male star’s startling resemblance to my lady wife.”
Ivy was frozen in place. She had her back turned to the people who had joined their group, her hand on Jem’s arm in a death grip.
“Allow me to introduce my friends.” William delighted in the shock he offered to his snobby half-brother as he introduced Ann Marie and her husband to him. Cedric made it his business to know all of the current Dublin gossip. Ann Marie Gannon’s marriage was a nine-day wonder amongst their social set.
Then he introduced Jem but Jem refused to acknowledge the introduction.
“Ivy,” William turned her to face her mother and brothers, “I believe these people are known to you.”
The beaded cap hid Ivy’s dark hair completely. The resemblance between Ivy and her mother was striking.
“You are mistaken, I believe,” said Ivy. “These people are strangers to me.”
She was aware of her friends closing in around her. Jem put his arm around her waist. Ann Marie took her hand and Edward stood behind the two women.
Ivy allowed her eyes to examine the people standing in front of her. She noticed her brothers had the grace to drop their eyes but her mother stared, the expression on her face almost malicious.
“We should return to our seats.” She turned to take Jem’s arm in hers. “I’d hate to miss my brother’s performance. He is, after all, the star of the show.” She turned her back and walked away.
“Ivy, love,” Jem knew her knees must be knocking, “I think you just put your mother and brothers in the ha’penny place.”
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If you enjoyed the Ivy Rose Series you may also like this series from A. O'Connor
Can a house keep secrets?
1840’s – When Lord Edward Armstrong builds the house for his bride, Anna, the family is at the climax of its power. But its world is threatened when no heir is born. Anna could restore their fortunes, but it would mean the ultimate betrayal. Then the Great Famine grips the country.<
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1910s – Clara finds life as lady of the manor is not what she expected when she married Pierce Armstrong. As the First World War rages, she finds solace in artist Johnny Seymour’s decadent circle. Then the War of Independence erupts and Clara is caught between two men, deceit and revenge.
Present Day – When Kate Fallon sees the house it is love at first sight. She and her tycoon husband Tony buy it and hire the last Armstrong owner, architect Nico, to oversee its restoration.
As Kate’s fascination with the house grows, she and Nico begin to uncover its history and the fates of its occupants in centuries past. But then, as her husband's business empire faces ruin, Kate realises that they are in danger of losing everything.
Read The House on Kindle Now
Present day – Kate and Nico Collins are filming a docudrama about life in their home Armstrong House in Ireland during its golden age at the turn of the century. When they discover a cover-up of a terrible crime involving Nico’s great-grandfather Lord Charles Armstrong, they set out to solve a mystery over a century old.
1888 – Arabella Tattinger arrives to attend a glittering ball at Armstrong House as the family’s younger son Harrison’s fiancée. Her head is turned by the glamorous aristocratic family, and most of all by the eldest son and heir, the exciting but dangerous Charles. A chain of events unfolds from that night which casts the family into years of a bitter feud.
1899 – When American heiress Victoria Van Hoeven marries into the family, she is determined bring peace at last to the Armstrongs. But everywhere dangers are circling and secrets are ready to emerge from the shadows. Not just from outside the house but from within their golden circle. Victoria is stepping into the firestorm.
Kate and Nico press on in their efforts to uncover the truth – but are some secrets best kept hidden?
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The Ha'Penny Place (Ivy Rose Series Book 3) Page 32