The Prince and the Dressmaker

The eighth frontispiece includes half of a front pattern piece with a triangle cutout.

In the palace, the Queen is led away weeping from the King’s door where Sebastian sits as doctors enter to attend Leroy. Three horizontal panels show that he has waited through the night. At dawn, the doctor informs him his father’s surgery is over and the King is recuperating. Peeks through the curtains of his father’s bed, and the King weakly calls for his son. Sebastian looks lost but goes to Leroy’s bedside and takes his hand. Leroy acknowledges that he can be “demanding and critical” (156), but tells Sebastian he trusts his son to steward the kingdom once he’s gone. Sebastian hangs his head.

At a dressing table, Lady Crystallia brushes the tresses of the wig. A ticket for the Paris ballet lies on the table. After applying lip paint, Crystallia looks in the mirror with a critical, resolved expression. Frances and Crystallia ride to the theater, each looking out opposite carriage windows. Chin propped in hand, Crystallia looks sad and concerned, while Frances grasps her portfolio with an excited expression. People filter into the impressive opera house. The ballet’s set and costumes are colorful, and a masculine-presenting principal dancer wears earrings and a bodice-like top. Frances points out things to Crystallia, who appears morose and apathetic. The dancers bow to applause at the end of the ballet and Frances and Crystallia exit into the hall.

In a series of panels with no background, Frances touches Crystallia’s shoulder, saying that despite the King’s illness she hopes Crystallia enjoyed the evening. Crystallia says the King will recover and Frances smiles. As Frances begins to walk with her portfolio, Crystallia stops her to say Frances can’t come see Madame Aurelia. Given that many, including the Queen, know Frances works for Sebastian, Crystallia insists on going alone so that no one will link the Prince’s seamstress with Lady Crystallia and reveal Sebastian’s secret. Frances asks why this is suddenly an issue, to which Crystallia responds with concerns about having to become King at any moment. Frances reminds Lady Crystallia of their deal and Crystallia promises to get her designs into the fashion show anonymously, pulling the portfolio from Frances’s hands. Rushing away with the portfolio, Crystallia tells Frances to go wait at the palace. Frances stands alone in the ornate theater hallway. An isolated close-up of her face shows her distress. On the stairs Frances passes Madame Aurelia who carries a large bouquet of roses. Aurelia recognizes Frances as a friend of Crystallia’s and asks her name. Frances opens her mouth, pauses, and replies “No one” (167) before running away.

Crystallia bursts into the dressing room with the news that Frances’s work made it into the show. Frances sits in the dark, crying. She tells Crystallia that she is finished with their deal. Frances doesn’t care about being in the show if she can’t take credit for her own work, and describes meeting Madame Aurelia but not being able to introduce herself. Crystallia apologizes for the evening, and for not realizing sooner that the connection to Frances is a liability. Frances doesn’t care about the timing; she refuses to live in secret. Crystallia yells that telling the truth is impossible—the world won’t accept a king who wears dresses. Frances has no solution, but knows she can’t continue to hide. She packs a suitcase. Grimacing, Crystallia pulls rank and commands Frances to stay. Frances ignores this and pulls on a cloak and returns the dressing room key. Frances leaves and Crystallia stands alone in the darkness, eyes shadowed.

The Queen knocks on Sebastian’s door, and she and the King peer into his darkened room. Sebastian sits slumped, face angled away. The Queen asks if he’s sick since he isn’t eating. The King suggests they leave as Sebastian doesn’t want them there. Sebastian shocks his parents by telling them he’s ready to be betrothed to Princess Juliana. Sebastian explains he now understands his role as a future king, and knows Juliana will be a good partner to him. The thrilled parents rush into the room. As the Queen embraces Sebastian, his face is finally visible over her shoulder: dull, flat eyes, with red circles underneath.

Chapter 9’s illustration depicts two separate pieces of a belled sleeve pattern.

Behind a bland storefront, Frances works as one of many seamstresses. A woman instructs them to put all packages for Trippley’s in a stack. Two other seamstresses gossip about Sebastian’s engagement to Juliana while a miserable Frances listens. When the other women mention Sebastian and Juliana having attractive children, Frances darts away, head down, crashing into the Trippley’s boxes. Frances promises to clean up the mess. Peter Trippley enters the shop to collect the packages, and notices Frances. He asks if this is her day job when she’s not with Lady Crystallia. Eyes downcast, Frances tells him she no longer works for Crystallia. Peter asks the supervisor if he can bring Frances with him to Trippley’s to help unbox things. He bribes the hesitant supervisor and takes Frances to the carriage.

Peter brings Frances inside Trippley’s, an elegant multi-story building under construction, where they watch a giant clock being raised from a balcony. Peter says that the store will open in less than two weeks and the entire ground floor will be dedicated to clothing. Frances is amazed. Peter asks Frances to work for him, and offers her a place in the fashion show. Frances remembers that Peter didn’t love her style, but he says he’s noticed copies of her designs around town. He feels that designing for Lady Crystallia kept Frances from becoming a more mature creator, and thinks he can put her on the right path. Peter waves to his father below, who wears a top hat and a coat with a fur collar. Explaining that George Trippley has his eye for selling “to the masses” (194), Peter suggests partnering with him could give Frances a real platform to launch her career.

A pleased King and Queen sign invitations to Sebastian’s betrothal ceremony. Juliana tries on her dress and laughs with friends. Sebastian pulls all his dresses and accessories from his closet and throws them in a trunk. He pauses at the dress his mother wears in the photograph with a young Sebastian, and holds the gown close. The scene shifts to a view of Lady Crystallia at a bar, wearing the dress. Two women performers sing with their hands clasped. The woman bartending offers the sorrowful Lady Crystallia a drink, suggesting it will improve Crystallia’s mood. After considering, Crystallia downs the glass. A rowdy group of men enter, led by Prince Marcel, who notices Crystallia at the bar. He reminds an inebriated Crystallia that they’ve met before. Marcel invites Crystallia to attend Juliana’s betrothal with him, but Crystallia proclaims Lady Crystallia will be gone by tomorrow. Marcel asks why, and Crystallia describes hurting too many people, including potentially Marcel, who laughs at the idea. When Lady Crystallia starts to leave, Marcel seizes Crystallia’s wrist and offers to take the Lady home. He says he’s a prince who could make any woman on his arm a queen. Crystallia doubles over laughing, drawing attention and giggling about marrying both Marcel and his sister, suggesting their parents will love that “Sebastian’s a two for one deal” (203). A disgruntled Marcel looks confused and Crystallia collapses unconscious on a table. Slowly, Marcel pulls back the wig and reveals Sebastian’s blond hair. Marcel rears back in shock, and commands his cronies to pick up Crystallia/Sebastian and keep the truth hidden for now. Emile, standing outside, checks his watch.

Carriages stream toward the palace and a parade of well-dressed people enter. The royal families sit assembled on a dais at the end of a receiving hall. As time passes, the guests yawn and whisper. Juliana asks her mother where Marcel is, and Emile reports that he can’t find Sebastian. He confesses that he helped the Prince go into the city the night before, but Sebastian never came back. The King puts his head in his hands and assures the Queen he’ll take care of things. He sends the master of ceremonies to announce that the betrothal will begin without Sebastian. Before Juliana can come forward, Marcel stops the proceedings. His cronies drag a still-unconscious Crystallia dragged into the hall. Juliana immediately recognizes Lady Crystallia, and Marcel rips off the wig and throws water in Sebastian’s face. Sebastian regains consciousness, horrified and on his knees. Marcel tosses the wig to the floor, explaining he encountered Sebastian dressed as Lady Crystallia. The Queen recognizes her long-missing dress. Juliana asks if Crystallia has been Sebastian all along. A dripping Sebastian admits to the King that he’s been wearing dresses for quite a while. In tears, Juliana flees. Sebastian beseeches his parents, but they turn away. Sebastian gets up and pushes through the crowd to run out of the hall.