String of Pearls: Jealousy
“I can’t believe my little girl is getting married.”
Mary Bosworth smoothed the front of her lavender satin dress suit, her fingers passing over the tiny pearl buttons. To her right stood her daughter Cora, resplendent in her satin and lace bridal dress. To her left stood Cora’s twin Nora, her sister’s veil clutched tightly in one hand.
“You look like an angel.” Her mother lovingly stroked her daughter’s hair to the side, exposing the pearl drop earrings. “My own mother gave these to me when I got married to your father, and now I am passing them on to you.” She reached for an antique-looking jewel case that lay on the small table in the boutique’s dressing room. When she opened it, a delicate strand of pearls lay against a deep purple velvet background. “These were hers as well, and now they belong to you.”
Nora felt the smile painted on her face wither slightly at the corners.
It should be me getting married to Richard, not her.
Cora and Nora had been born on January 14, 1934 to their parents Michael and Mary Bosworth. The twins were nearly inseparable and did everything together. Even when they had entered middle school, they still insisted upon dressing up like one another. They both had their mother’s raven hair and their father’s blue eyes—Irish eyes, he was fond of saying—and there were times that not even their own parents could tell them apart.
The twins shared clothes, toys, everything with one another, but there was one secret which was known only to them, and which they did not share with others.
Sometimes it felt like they were the same person split between two bodies, and aside from their nearly identical appearances, they were very much alike.
Cora was a bit more social and outgoing, what her mother would have referred to as a “Type A personality,” whereas Nora was the more reserved and bookish. She excelled at math and chemistry, which happened to be Cora’s weak points. Cora had been the star of the cheer leading team during their high school years, but Nora was content to stay out of the spotlight and preferred to focus on her education.
For the most part.
What nobody knew, and which the twins had successfully managed to keep hidden for years, was that not only did they resemble one another superficially, but they were also excellent mimics.
Cora could go from being outgoing and enthusiastic to quiet and subdued the next. She would even assume her sister’s posture whenever she walked to class, her arms loaded down with books. Nora could imitate her sister’s powerful and resonant voice whenever she did her cheers or recited her lines in drama class, and it wasn’t beyond the norm for them to switch places with one another for a day.
This was especially helpful to Cora when it came to passing her end of term chemistry and algebra exams. When she had sprained her ankle—which she kept hidden from her family and friends—Nora had filled in for her on the sidelines during Homecoming.
Now, as she watched her sister turn slow, lazy circles in front of the full-length dressing mirror while her mother fawned and fussed over her bridal dress, Nora felt the jealousy well up in her like a black tide.
Richard loved me first, not you.
Richard Lawson had been the captain of the football team. He was tall, dreamy, and good-looking in a way that made the girls swoon and flutter about him. He was completely outside of Nora’s league, but a chance encounter in the library one afternoon of their senior year had changed all of that.
Nora was a straight A student and had the highest marks in algebra class, which was no secret. Richard, by contrast, was struggling, and if he didn’t get his grades up he risked getting benched for the remainder of the season. He had approached Nora during class and had nearly startled her into dropping her books. Up close he was even more stunning, and the way that he looked in his letterman jacket…Nora had a hard time concentrating on what he was saying, but essentially he was asking her to help tutor him in order to raise his grades.
She had eagerly and readily agreed, and they began to meet during lunch in the relative peace and quiet of the library. Nora came to find out that despite his status on the football team and his reputation as a heart breaker, that none of the rumors were true. He was a genuinely nice guy, and he both respected and admired Nora for her skill and patience.
Richard ended up acing his exams and was allowed to continue playing on the team. When Homecoming rolled around he scored the winning touchdown, and Nora, in the guise of her sister, was there on the sidelines cheering him on to victory.
When it came time to announce the Homecoming King and Queen, Richard was the unanimous and most likely candidate. What nobody had counted on, least of all Nora, was that her sister Cora was chosen as the Queen.
Nora had a moment of pure panic as her eyes sought out and found her parents and sister sitting in the stands watching the proceedings on the field. Cora was up there nursing a hurt ankle, pretending to be Nora. Nora was down on the sidelines pretending to be Cora, and if anyone found out that they had switched places….
“Cora, you won! Go on, get up on the stage!” Her cheerleader sisters were clapping and gently urging her to ascend the short flight of stairs to the makeshift stage where Richard stood, looking regal in his letterman and crown.
She was shaking when they crowned her, but anyone watching assumed it was due to the overwhelming intensity of the moment. She smiled and waved and gratefully accepted the large bouquet of roses someone handed her, and when Richard leaned in and introduced himself, she acted like she didn’t really know who he was.
Later on at home, Cora had found the whole thing enormously funny.
“Honestly Nee Nee, you looked gorgeous.” She sighed wistfully and flopped back on the embroidered quilt on her bed. “I wish I had been there.”
“You were watching from the stands.” Nora was carefully hanging up her sister’s uniform on the knob of the closet door. She was still shaking slightly, but not from excitement or nerves.
When the Homecoming Court had departed and the crowd began to vacate the field, Richard had pulled her aside and asked her if she was going steady with anyone. Nora knew that he was unattached and that her sister was too, and she was half tempted to tell him who she really was.
For weeks she had found herself gradually falling in love with him, but not once had he expressed the slightest interest. He was polite and gentlemanly, but nothing more. Now, here he was making a pass at who he thought was her sister when their paths had never actually crossed. He had ended up asking her to the Prom, and too flustered to say anything else, she had accepted.
“Gosh, he is so gorgeous. I really can’t thank you enough for saying yes, Nee Nee.”
Nora swallowed back the lump in her throat.
It wasn’t fair.
All their life, whether she had wanted to admit it or not, Cora had always been the center of attention, the star of the show. This time was no different, and the fact that her sister was now going to the Prom with the most eligible boy in school…she could feel the rage and hurt bubbling up inside of her.
Cora and Richard had gone to the Prom together, and Nora, not wanting to be left out of such a monumental occasion, had gone with Gary Pendleton, a boy from her Chemistry II class. She had no romantic interest in Gary, but he was sweet enough and he had asked her, so she said yes.
The theme of the Prom that year had been “The Stars at Night,” and the rented hall had looked like a wonderland of tiny twinkling lights, painted wooden stars, and an elaborate moon backdrop for couples to have their photograph taken against. Cora had worn a pink satin dress with alternating bands of mesh and satin on the skirt, but Nora had opted to wear something entirely different. Her dress had had been a violet blue to go with the theme of the dance, but in reality she chose it because it reflected the way she was feeling.
Seeing Cora and Richard dancing in each other’s arms had been agony, and when she and Gary had waltzed past them, she couldn’t help but feel a stab of envy in her heart. Benny Carter’s “These Foolish Things” had been playing, and she knew that for the rest of her life she would always associate that song with this particular memory.
Nora waited for Richard in the library the next afternoon, but he never showed. When she eventually left, she found him seated on a bench with her sister in the dappled shade of an elm tree. He leaned in and said something to Cora and she laughed, her cheeks faintly flushed.
After that they were nearly inseparable, and Nora knew that she had lost Richard forever.
****
“Nora, just don’t stand there like a stick in the mud. Get over here and help your sister with her veil.”
Her mother stood looking at her, hands splayed on her hips. She had become increasingly snappish and short with Nora now that all her time and energy was being spent on preparing for Cora’s wedding.
“Mama….” Even the sound of Cora’s voice—so like her own—was beginning to grate on Nora’s nerves.
Their mother sighed and then stepped to the side as Nora approached with the veil in her hands. The headband was a bit misshapen because she had been clutching it so tightly, and she hurriedly twisted it back into place.
“There.” Her mother cooed and fussed over Cora, affixing the small crown of wax flowers and imitation pearls more firmly on her head. “You are an absolute vision.”
“I need to go to the ladies room.” Nora hurried out of the dressing room and down the short hallway towards the powder room.
Her breath came in short pants and she gripped the edge of the vanity to steady herself.
It wasn’t fair. She had loved Richard first, and her sister had done nothing to deserve him.
And what have you done to deserve him? The little voice at the back of her head sounded suspiciously like her mother, and with a frustrated cry, she swept the decorative bottles of soaps and scents off of the counter. One shattered on the floor in a million pieces, and swearing under her breath, she hurriedly disposed of them in the metal waste basket tucked in the corner.
It wasn’t fair, but there was nothing to be done. The wedding was set for October 9th, a mere seven weeks away. Richard had proposed to Cora right before graduation, and they planned to move to Boston where he could attend college. Cora was torn between starting a family right away or working as a secretary for one of the many businesses in the area, but either way, their future was fairly planned out.
Unlike my own. Nora was set to go to the local community college to get her basics out of the way, but her mother—who had been raised differently in another era—didn’t see the need for her to further her education.
“Why can’t you just settle down like your sister?” That had been a frequent discussion point ever since Cora and Richard had announced their engagement, but each time it came up, it had sounded more and more accusatory.
“Because I’m not my sister.” She had stormed off and run to her room, and that was where Cora had found her, weeping quietly on her bed.
“Don’t worry, Nee Nee. You’ll find someone someday.”
But I already have, and you took him from me.
I’m not my sister. Not my sister…my sister….
What if…? No, the idea was just too ludicrous, but still….It had worked in the past, so why not now?
Nora’s brilliant and analytical mind began to sift through the minute details. All it would take is just the right moment, the right dosage, and the right amount of emotion to make it convincing….
