It was one of those days, slower than it had any right to be even for a high-end bridal boutique who had generally be less than 5 groups through the doors a week.

The level Silk and stone operated at was that even without insisting on appointments as some firms did, the only people that came to Silk and Stone either already knew about them or were the rare ones that managed to stumble across the storefront.

The irony of it was that even with some of their dresses selling for the what would also serve as a decent London house deposit they were willing and able to work with anyone that walked in the door even going as far as to subsidise a dress for the right bride.

Carol Stone passed the time as normal reading the society section of the major papers as she tried to keep ahead of anything that might bring them business. She loved working in the Boutique, the customer interactions, the joy on faces of the bridal parties as things came together, the shear wonder on the faces of the rare walk-ins and the shock they exhibited when told that 'Silk and Stone' would and could work within any budget. She even managed to put up with the new money bridzillas that thought that they were entitled to whatever they wanted just because of a number on a bank computer.

Carol did not have to work in the shop but it was a family business and she loved most days of it truly believing her parents mantra of 'If you want to succeed you have to know how it all works' she knew that in a few years she was destined to be more drawn into upper management and eventually run the lot and if her parents were right which experience told her they normally were even if she could not see how right now then this foundation would be a godsend.

The major talking point of the last few months was the upcoming wedding of the Marquess of Cambridge a line thought lost in 1981 when a terrorist bombed the family home. The revelation that the infant son of the family had survived the bombing of the family home and subsequently been hidden away was a bit of a shock to those who followed these things, and it was universally regarded as the right course of action to have hidden the child. As someone accustomed to dealing with the peerage the more shocking part for Carol wondered if they would see any action from this event,

Also this season was the wedding of her boyfriends cousin, Dudey was somwhat closed lipped about his cousin and little was knowen about him other than there were some family issues that Dudley deeply regretted. She had met Dudley at a friend's party in their last year of school, he was a school friend of the hosts brother and apparently had been having a hard time adjusting to the loss of his parents in a car accident. It was interesting to Carol that they both went to well-regarded public schools, but Dudley did not come from wealth, she was intrigued by the differences in their upbringing. Carols own early life was one of mild privilege having come from a family distantly related to the crown, she was not truly part of the elite but had more experience than some of her school friends.

Carol spent most of the party sitting with him listening to him talk about his family and the therapy that he was receiving to cope with his loss. She had been shocked at his declaration that he was determined not to be the same as his parents, this lead to a weird conversation about how his parents had treated his younger cousin rather badly and in turn taught him to treat people in the same way. Carol was astounded by both the bigotry she heard described and just how much a young Dudley had bought into simply because his parents had normalised it for him. What really drew her in was Dudley's determination to change who he was mingled with some exceptionally heavy guilt that he would not talk any more about.

Turning back to the paper she looked again at the photo of the handsome young man that was he new Marquess . The young lord was looking at his fiancé with a look of mischief in his eyes and you could tell that the blond bombshell was trying her best yet still failing to glare at him in disapproval.

They were a fun looking couple so obviously so caught up in each other that they were ignoring the photographer completely. The shop door rattled as it opened jolting carol out of her reminiscing, standing and turning toward the door to greet the new arrival. Carol smiled as she saw Dudley emerge from behind the umbrella and look about to see if she was busy with a customer.

"Gods love it's fair chucking it down out there, I'm probably going to develop webbed feet if this keeps up!" he remarked, "Busy day?"

Carol laughed "Oh I wish, no it's quiet as a church mouse today! Im hoping for something to break the monotony soon but to be honest in this case the odds are not in my favour".

Carol lent in and kissed her boyfriend, "So then what brings you to the snobby end of town?"

Dudley got a funny look on his face, "Remember how you have been on me about talking to my cousin to see if i can start to straighten things out between us ?"

Carol amirked, "Yes this is the same conversation where you are bign a big baby about it, Why do you ask?"

"So, I was just getting up today when there was a knock on the flat door, when I answered the door I got the shock of my life to see Harry, I haven't seen him since before I lost mum and dad. So anyway, we talked for about 2 hours and, well the short of it is we are invited to the wedding."

Carol puled him into a hug. "Are you ok love?"

"Not sure, it's weird, the talk was good. We talked for a while about mum and dad and my therapy, which is a good thing in itself Joanne has, much like you have, been trying to get me to reach out to him for the last 6 months, but frankly I was and still m terrified, and no I'm still not ready to talk about why I'm so scared of Harry. But yeah, want to find go to his Wedding'?"

Carol was conflicted of course she wanted to go, it would be goof for Dudley and family was important to her, but would Dudley be ok with it. She didn't understand the impact Harry had on him but more than once Harrys name had come up in Dudley's nightmares, and even he admitted Harry stll Terified him tho the Gods only knew why, "Only if you are going to be ok with going, you know how i feel about family, but this is your family and you are more important to me than Harry is!"

Going quiet for a few moments Dudley finally took a deep breath, "I think so, the conversation was really good, and I think Harry also realises just how much I was also damaged by my parent's shit, its not an excuse of course but I think he can see that I'm trying to change. He did say he was conflicted about inviting me, but by the end he was laughing about some of the situations I have found myself in and I think we are on the way to healing. Hell I hope we are he's the only family I have left."

The conversation caried on for an hour or so longer until it was time to close up for the night and head back to the small flat near the Childrens hospital before they went out for the weekly dinner with Carol's parents.