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



THE CONTESSA'S STORY (CONTINUED)

They were both stunned by the recognition of their mirror image. Elizabeth Louise approached her distraught sister and gently led her to a secluded table. There she recounted the tragedy that had befallen their parents two days after the arrival of the twin Elizabeths. The Contessa, having consumed most of a jeroboam of Dom Perignon, did not seem to understand the great deal but continued to sob and wring her hands. Eventually, she told her tale.

Two weeks ago she had returned to Palazzo Fragolin after a hectic morning of shopping for shoes. Her faithful gondolier, Aldo, met her with terrible news—-Conte Fragolin had thrown himself off the Rialto Bridge! Unknown to the Contessa, her husband had completely squandered the considerable Fragolin fortune at the Casino during recent years. Not only was the Contessa widowed, she was destitute as well.

Elizabeth Victoria confessed to her twin that she had just spent her last million lire on the champagne she was drinking and was planning to throw herself from the Rialto Bridge to join her dearly departed husband. Aghast at the prospect, Elizabeth Louise promised to sort out her sister’s disastrous financial affairs. She also promised to take the Contessa back to Virginia where she would find a suitable residence as well as an occupation for her unconventional sister. The next day Elizabeth Louise went off to buy the last pieces of furniture remaining at Palazzo Fragolin and had them shipped to Boyce, Virginia, where she had recently purchased a building. She called her architect and told him of her plan to transfer her twin to Boyce and asked him to design surroundings in which the Contessa and her cheetahs would feel at home.

The move from Venice to Boyce has not been easy for the Contessa nor for her patient and generous sister. Sadly, the two now find that, apart from their genetic heritage and their joint love of jewelry, they have absolutely nothing in common. The Contessa does not seem to comprehend her new circumstances and continues to live an extravagant and disorderly life. Aldo, the faithful Fragolin gondolier who accompanied her to Boyce, has run away with a waitress from West Virginia so the Contessa now seeks companionship mainly at the Volunteer Fire Co. located a short walk from her new home. She can be found there most nights playing bingo until closing time when she takes the cheetahs for long rambles across the neighboring fields where they terrify the grazing cows. As a small gesture, Elizabeth Louise has asked the Contessa to open her palazzo each weekend to visitors who would like to see select jewelry designs by Elizabeth Locke. Given her sleeping habits, the Contessa receives at the Boyce palazzo from noon until 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Contessa requests that if she is still asleep you tiptoe.

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