THE OTHER ELIZABETH
ELIZABETH LOCKE JEWELS
17 East Main Street
Boyce, Virginia



THE CONTESSA’S STORY

Not so very long ago twin girls were born. The unexpected joy of welcoming two babies left the parents at a loss for names so both girls were named Elizabeth. Middle names were less difficult and Louise and Victoria were chosen. Almost immediately their parent’s initial joy was shattered when, at only two days of age, Elizabeth Victoria was stolen by gypsies from her hospital crib. Despite massive search efforts, Elizabeth Victoria was never found.

Elizabeth Louise, prudent and obedient, was brought up carefully, her parents ever-fearful for her safety. She studied diligently, made her bed each morning, never raised her voice, and graduated with honors from a fine southern university.

Elizabeth Victoria was sold by the gypsies to a childless couple in Memphis. There the irrepressible and rebellious child did as she pleased and terrorized all around her. Her room was always knee-deep in toys, her grade school teachers were terrified by her accuracy with a slingshot, and the local sheriff grew weary of wresting the unruly child from the clutches of visiting carnivals. When, at age twelve, she finally and definitively ran away from home, her adoptive parents breathed a quiet sign of relief.

Elizabeth Victoria had not gone very far at all; in fact, she had merely ridden her bike a few blocks away to Graceland where she immediately caught the eye of Elvis and moved in. There she received the remainder of her meager education: proper application of eyeliner and the ability to listen to men with rapt attention. When Elvis decided to marry another young, eye-lined resident of Graceland, Elizabeth Victoria’s heart was broken. She left Memphis and took a bus to New York where she stowed away on a freighter bound for Marseilles.

The next years are clouded with mystery as Elizabeth Victoria wandered across Europe. There are photos of her with Jagger in a murky London flat, stories of a long-term liaison with Belmondo, several small roles in lesser-known Fellini films, and whispers of a villa above Porto Ercole financed by Fiat. She merely smiles and says that, like Blanche Dubois, she was always dependent upon the kindness of strangers.

And then she finally fell in love.

Conte Federico Fragolin was the youngest of the notorious fratelli Fragolin (Fulvio, Francesco, and Federico) last of the great Venetian playboys. The count saw Elizabeth Victoria feeding foie gras to some stray cats near Palazzo Fragolin and was instantly smitten. His friends and brothers were astonished to see the confirmed libertine begging the young American girl to marry him.

Despite the thirty-odd years of difference in their ages, Count Federico and Elizabeth Victoria were blissfully happy at Palazzo Fragolin. The Count constantly showered Contessa Elizabeth with gifts—the fabulous Fragolin tiara, a sable-lined gondola for damp winter evenings on the Grand Canal, and her favorite gift of all—-cheetah cubs named Precious and Tesoro.

It was a magical life of indolence and elegance and the Contessa enjoyed each golden moment.

Elizabeth Louise had also been busy—-graduated school, a series of interesting jobs, a sojourn in Italy in a Florentine garret, and an improbable but successful career as a jewelry designer. She fell in love, moved to a farm in Virginia and also fed stray cats. Occasionally, she thought about her long-lost twin.

Fate stepped in.

One day while Elizabeth Louise and her husband were enjoying a summer’s end vacation in Venice, Elizabeth Louise wandered into Café Florian for an afternoon aperitivo. As she sat sipping her Bellini, she heard the sounds of a woman sobbing. Looking up, she saw someone who could only be her twin sister, the Other Elizabeth!

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