Each day of a VanVoreen cruise is an open invitation. The luxury of breakfast in bed . . . games or just loafing on the broad decks . . shopping, dancing, and fun . . time to refresh . . . and plan for a busy schedule after arrival
Whether this is your second honeymoon or your first, what better tonic than the enveloping peace of sea, sky, and ship--the infinite resources of VanVoreen food and service. . . BON VOYAGE!
And then on the inside page read the invitation:
THE PLEASURE OF YOUR COMPANY IS REQUESTED FOR THE BON VOYAGE BALL INAUGURATING THE NEW CARIBBEAN CRUISE ON THE VANVOREEN LINES.
THE JILLIAN.
8 P.M.
BLACK TIE.
It was going to be very exciting. Momma bought a strapless black Christian Dior original that had a charcoal gray-colored velvet fur strip
diagonally across the bodice and a billowing skirt. She wore her Tiffany necklace with the oval diamonds and matching oval diamond earrings and oval diamond bracelet. She spent all afternoon preparing herself, twice rejecting and changing the hair style her personal hairdresser created. She finally brought out magazines that had run features on members of the royal family in England and chose a style worn by one of the beautiful women, a real English duchess. Her hair was swept back off her forehead and down with the strands brushed behind her ear so her beautiful earrings would show.
When she finally stepped out of her suite to attend the ball, I thought she looked stunning. It was as if she were about to be crowned queen herself and I was to be one of her ladies in waiting.
I couldn't help but feel self-conscious in the dress she had picked out for me. It, too, was strapless, but I didn't feel as secure, even with the formfitting bra. I thought my shoulders were too bony, my collarbone was too prominent and my breasts looked obviously artificial to my critical eyes, even silly. The dress was a deep, dark blue with a billowing skirt, under which I wore layers of crinoline. Momma had asked me to wear the necklace Tony had given me and then loaned me small gold button earrings that went with the necklace very well. I put on the gold bracelet she and Daddy had given me last year. I had my hair combed and brushed into a long page boy.
Daddy, dressed in his tuxedo, was pacing back and forth below as usual. When we started down the stairs together, he stopped and gazed up with a smile of awe. "Magnificent, magnificent," he cried. "You look more beautiful than ever, Jillian.
"And you, Leigh, tonight you are the princess for sure." He kissed me quickly on the cheek and went to kiss Momma too, but she said he would spoil her makeup.
"Right, right. Anyway, we're quite late."
Tonight, at Momma's insistence, we had a limousine waiting to take us to the ship. All our suitcases had been taken during the day and placed in our suites on board. It couldn't have been a more perfect night for a shipboard party. The sky was covered with stars and there were only wisps of clouds passing over them. Even the breeze down at the dock was unusually warm.
As soon as we arrived, we took our places at the ballroom's great entryway to greet everyone. Beside being one of Daddy's bigger ships, The Milan was one of the most luxurious. The corridor leading to the ballroom was paneled in the finest wood, highly polished and inlaid with marble. Enormous mirrors in gilded frames lined the walls and there were pieces of antique French furniture--cushioned chairs, settees and dark pine tables--along the way. Anyone entering surely felt that he or she were entering a palace.
The ballroom itself was an enormous room with burgundy velvet wall hangings draped from the high ceiling, and there was silver- and gold-colored molding everywhere.
The room was lit by a dozen or so great chandeliers with fake candlesticks topped by flameshaped bulbs. On the far right was a bar that extended nearly halfway across the room. A dozen or so bartenders dressed in starched white shirts and black bow ties with shiny black pants were getting the guests in the Caribbean mood with margaritas and pina coladas.
Food was provided buffet-style on tables organized by courses: salad tables, soup tables, tables with duck, prime rib, chicken and fish. An entire section was devoted to desserts like flaming raked Alaska, all sorts of cream and fruit pies, cakes and petits fours, and ice cream. Waiters and waitresses in Caribbean garb, the women wearing colorful headpieces, served hot hors d'oeuvres and glasses of champagne.
On the stage was a sixteen-piece swing dance band with a female singer. They began playing as soon as we took our places and the guests began to arrive. Some guests moved right to the tiled floor in front of the stage and began to dance. There was an immediate air of festivity around us. Never had I seen so many fancy-dressed people, even on our other voyages and bon voyage parties. The women dressed in an array of styles, each trying to look more lovely and more fashionable than the others. Many wore embroidered ball gowns and were bedecked in diamonds and gold, some wearing diamond tiaras, but I didn't think anyone was as pretty as Momma.
Tony Tatterton was one of the last to arrive. He looked so tall and handsome in his elegant tuxedo. He came toward us quickly, a small and amused smile on his sensual lips and his cerulean blue eyes sparkling.
"Miss Leigh VanVoreen," he said taking my hand and kissing it. I blushed and turned quickly to Momma. She had the beginnings of that excited-littlegirl look on her face again, a look that immediately woke up the butterflies in my stomach.
"Cleave, I would like to introduce you to Townsend Anthony Tatterton, whom you've heard me speak of so much," she said. Daddy scrutinized Tony quickly and then smiled as warmly as he had smiled at everyone else.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tatterton. Thank you for giving my wife employment she enjoys."
"Oh, it is I who should thank you, sir, for permitting her to demonstrate her talent on the walls of my home."
Daddy nodded, his lips tight, his eyes small. I wasn't sure whether he was going to laugh or cry. Momma broke the scary silence by suggesting Tony get himself an exotic Caribbean drink and indulge in the hors d'oeuvres. He turned as if noticing the party for the first time.
"Looks like quite an affair," he said. "Thank you for inviting me. Leigh," he added turning my way, "perhaps you will do me the honor of dancing with me later."
I was speechl
ess. Why me with all these incredibly beautiful, sophisticated women about? I couldn't go out there and dance with him in front of all these people. I wasn't that good. Oh, the very thought of doing it terrified me. He must have seen the fear in my face, for he smiled even more widely and then nodded at Momma and Daddy before heading toward the bar.
"Well," Daddy said immediately, "I think most of our guests have arrived. I have to meet with the ship's captain for a while to discuss the itinerary and other matters."