It’s a week before Christmas, just days to go until Mary and Matthew’s wedding and the last minute preparations are in full swing. Sybil has finished work for the holidays at long last and she, Mary, Edith and Mary’s oldest friend, Anna, are having the final fittings done on their dresses. She’s standing in front of the mirror, trying her best to keep still as the seamstress sticks pins in the hem of the silver grey gown.
“I didn’t tell you, did I,” Anna says as she hands her another glass of champagne. “Guess who I saw coming out of Tiffany’s… with a bag.”
“Who?”
“Tom.”
Sybil chokes as she swallows a mouthful of champagne. “Tom? Are you sure?”
“Positive,” Anna replies. “I waved, but I don’t think he saw me.”
“The idiot,” she says quietly to herself.
“What?”
“This is going to sound crazy, but I think he’s going to propose. I can’t explain why… I just have this feeling. Stupid, I know…”
“It’s not stupid,” Mary smiles. “I thought the same about Matthew.”
“I need to drop Michael a few subtle hints,” Edith pipes up, happy for Sybil, but a tiny little bit jealous at the same time.
Mary arches a perfectly shaped eyebrow and looks at her sister over her shoulder. “Yes but, Edith darling, the first thing you need to do it very bluntly tell him that he has to get a divorce.”
Edith doesn’t reply – she learnt long ago that it’s better to say nothing than admit that Mary’s right.
“He said that he wants to start a family with me but not until we’re married. He’s just waiting for the perfect moment and told me that he’s got me something really special for Christmas,” she tells them. “Do you see the logic?”
Mary nods. “And why else would a man even half as in love as him go to Tiffany’s at this time of year?”
–from “My True Love Gave to Me” by thebarefootflapper
Musings of a Yankee Countess 