The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle: A Novel

Violet goes to Darley Grange, Lord Flynn’s estate, to report for duty. She feels upbeat about the experience since her change in perspective, but her mood sours when she discovers she is assigned to Lieutenant MacCauley for driving duty. He teases her about her new seriousness for her duty and her haircut. On the drive, he presses her for conversation, and when she does not join in, he speculates what her life has been like. He guesses she was pampered, and although she was, she offers corrections, telling him she has endured losses, like the deaths of her mother and the man she nearly married. MacCauley apologizes for her loss, and he shares that his own parents did not show him much attention and that he has his own losses, like the coma his brother was in when MacCauley was 12. When Violet asks how his brother is now, he shares his concern over all the affairs his brother’s wife has, but he suspects his brother wants her to be happy. He jokes that perhaps one day Violet will find a man like that who pampers her, but he wonders aloud if that is what she truly wants.