Amour de Loin

Afterwards, there was the dress

"Anne, this suits you so well," the seamstress said, going round me. "Now let's try on the corset".

"What is that?" my mother asked.

"Oh, that is a necklace with pearls, the way they wear them at court," the seamstress replied, enthusiastically.

My mother made a gesture to say that I won't be needing that, but the seamstress said that sure I did, the dress would be incomplete without it. Of course that would be added to the price, I had thought.

The seamstress was one of those ambulant sellers who had happened to drop by at our house. I had always felt awkward at parties and was wondering if I would ever wear that beautiful dress anywhere. Usually I did my best to avoid parties, yet we all know that there are occasions when you simply cannot say no. They would just make you go whether you liked it or not. I was, on the one hand, glad to try on such a beautiful dress, and on the other hand, I felt anxious about the festivity occasion that might approach and where I would be forced to go if my mother accepted to actually buy that dress for me. I was wondering if she had some occasion in mind.

I moved about the unicorn tapestry and towards the mirror to finally get to have a look at myself. To see what the two of them had been looking at. The seamstress was enthusiastic all along, while my mother was quite reflective and reserved.

Finally, I got to find out that my family would pay nothing for the dress and I would receive it as a gift. The seamstress behaved very mysteriously all throughout her visit and my mother was still reserved and in a reflective mood. I could only feel a bit worried, a bit curious and well, a bit glad to wear the dress in front of the ladies with the unicorn, a tapestry that had been given to our family as an inheritance from a far-away relative.

Then I was told that early in the morning I was about to set out on a trip with a lady I had never met in a cart. My heart sank as I became anxious about my future. Had my family sold me to a husband? Will I ever see my village again? Though I had been taught that all villages looked the same and were populated with similar people.

Nobody would answer my questions. Father came home late and would not utter a word. I did not talk to my sister that day as I was sent early to bed.