As the virus spread around the world, Maxine and Hayley made plans for when they'd have to go into isolation or as everyone in the media was calling it, lockdown. All the businesses that were part of the Lorelei Investments portfolio were given updates on what Maxine was expecting from them. Mostly it was a complete freeze on both payments to Lorelei and investment in the companies with a few exceptions if a government mandate forced the business to completely close or severely restrict their operations.

The major exception was the Vineyard in France. Their crunch point would come in the Autumn. What mattered was getting the vines ready for the growing season. The ever-present threat of frost was of more concern to Francoise and Jules than anything else at this point in their year. They had a local worker who would move to some accommodation at the Vineyard. He’d help out when and if the country imposed a lockdown.

Their main job was to give reassurance to the businesses that they were there for them if and when they needed help. That was welcomed by all the companies and was a brief moment of brightness in an ever darkening world.

[20th March 2020]
“Emma, it is Maxine. Have you given any thought to what I suggested in my email?”

Maxine’s long-time dressmaker and friend had become the most recent partner for Maxine’s company early in January. With a nationwide lockdown seeming to be inevitable, Maxine and Hayley had invited Emma to decamp from London and come down to Devon for the duration of the lockdown.

“You have?”

“That’s good. When will you pack up and get on the road?”

“Ok. I understand about getting the dresses to the brides to be. Give me a call when you get close and I’ll meet you. This place is not the easiest in the world to find in the dark.”

“No. Just bring as much as you can. We have a place for you to work ready and waiting.”

“Just drive safely, ok?”

“Yeah, bye.”

Hayley who had just come into the kitchen after doing some watering of the seedlings that were growing in a small poly-tunnel that Michel had given them was waiting patiently for Maxine to get off the phone.

“Was that Emma?”

“Yep. She’s coming down on Monday. She hopes to leave around midday.”

“Ah. That’s why you suggested meeting her then?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

"No, but we'd better get that room you were talking about ready sooner rather than later, hadn’t we?”

"Yes, Boss!" replied a grinning Maxine.

[23rd March 2020]

"That's it then we are in lockdown for the foreseeable future," commented Maxine as she switched off the TV. They'd just watched the Prime Minister tell the nation that things were up shit creek and none of them had any solid ideas about what to do next but locking down the country seemed like a good idea at the time.

“It is pretty much what you predicted isn’t it?”

“We have all seen what Italy is going through and it does not need a degree in rocket science to have predicted that it was going to happen here besides, every newspaper, TV and Radio station has been predicting it for almost a week.”

“At least all the businesses are as prepared as they could be given the information we have at the moment. That is all down to you, isn’t it?” argued Hayley.

Maxine shook her head.
“Who was it who drew my attention to the outbreak in China in the first place? That was all down to you, Hayley.”

“Just doing my job ‘boss’,” smiled Hayley.

Maxine sighed and sat back in her chair.
"We got lucky, and we are, or were ahead of the game. This is not going to be a short-term thing, unlike what President Trump is saying. It is pretty clear to everyone that this is not a mild dose of the flu. All those people dying in Italy and elsewhere is evidenced enough of that. This is a pandemic, and the sooner the people in charge all over the world realise this, the better.”

Hayley squeezed Maxine’s hand tightly.
"We shall have to wait and see what the Chancellor announces in a few days. Everyone is expecting some sort of support but at the moment any guesses about what it will be is just that guesses."

Hayley just nodded her head. She wished that she had even half of Maxine’s confidence about the future.

“We are going to be ok, aren’t we?”

“As a couple? I hope so.”

“No, I meant about the business. With no income from our investments in the foreseeable future, we are going into a debit mode.”

Maxine smiled.
“Yes, we are. We don’t exactly spend a lot in a normal week do we?”

“True but…”

“We’ll be ok. I think it is time that you got to grips with the accounts. Then you’ll see for yourself the financial state of the business.”

Hayley was about to say something when Maxine’s phone rang.

“It is Emma.”

Hayley smiled and let go of Maxine’s hand.

"Hi, Emma."

“Yeah, we watched it. Where are you now?”

“Ok, give me a call after you turn off the A38 at the point in told you in my text. There is a place to pull over just a few hundred yards past the junction. Stay put and I’ll come and find you.”

“See you soon. Drive safely.”

Maxine hung up the call.

“Emma’s just stopped for some petrol in Taunton. There is a lot of traffic. It seems that a lot of people are as they say, ‘getting out of town’.”

“That’s at least an hour away if the traffic is heavy. Why don’t you go and wait for her, in half an hour or so?” suggested Hayley.

"Yes, Boss."

---

Thanks to the heads up from Maxine and Hayley, Emma had been able to deliver a lot of dresses to the brides to be in the previous week. She’d done a deal with many of them for between 50% and 75% of the cost of the dress and from then on, they were on their own even if they had not had a final fitting, Emma's cash flow had blossomed, but Maxine had made sure that it was kept safe for the inevitable rainy day.

Because Emma had no close family, Maxine had invited her to come down to Devon and stay with Maxine and Hayley in what the Government was calling a 'bubble'. In return for room and board, Emma was to make several garments for her hosts as well as a special dress for Delphine that would be worn at Michel's 51st birthday party that was due to be held at the end of April. Delphine and Michel would also be part of their ‘bubble’.

---

[23rd March 2020, 22:30hrs just off the A38 in Devon]

“You made it then,” said Maxine as Emma got out of her car at the agreed meeting point.

"I did, but it took a lot longer than I thought it would. It took me an hour to get past Stonehenge."

Maxine smiled. She knew exactly what Emma had been through.

“Well, you are here now. If you would follow me, I’ll lead you to ‘Chez Maxine’. It should take us about twenty minutes.”

“That’s good because I’m bursting to go. I stopped at Cullompton Services but the queue for the ladies was out of the building. They are limiting the number of people inside to three at a time.”

“Then there is no time to waste.”

Emma smiled
“Just remember that I’m driving this clapped-out old Transit that is loaded up to the roof and not a sports car.”

“I will,” grinned Maxine.

---

"Hello, Hayley. Sorry, can't stop. I need the loo?" said Emma as she dashed inside the house some twenty-two minutes later.

“The downstairs one is under the stairs on your left,” said Hayley as she stood aside.

“Thanks.”

Maxine came into the house.
“She made it to the loo then?”

“It looks like it. Couldn’t she stop on the way down?”

“She tried but the queue for the ladies was miles long. They were limiting the ladies to three people at a time. You know what that means…”

“I get you. Shall we start unloading her van?”

“Let’s wait. Emma might decide that we can wait until morning.”

"Fair enough. She must be knackered, from all that packing and driving."

Emma emerged from the toilet, looking a lot happier with herself.

“Sorry about that,” she said apologetically.

“No need to apologise. This is now your home for the duration of the lockdown,” said Maxine.

"It is very good of you to invite me to stay. It certainly beats staying on my own in my flat in Mitcham.”

“Do you want to unload tonight?” asked Hayley.

“I think we can leave it until the morning. I just need to grab one bag and we can all head off to bed or if possible, a drink? I ran out of water near Yeovil.”

---

Emma fitted right into life in Devon. Much of that was down to having known Maxine for several years. Hayley had cleared out one of the bedrooms for her to use as a workroom. It had good views of the cowshed as compensation. Her bedroom compensated for that as it had splendid views over the countryside.

The trio spent a good deal of time working on a new vegetable plot. Michel was on call for help, and it was him who suggested fencing it all in but, that was poo-poohed by the trio only for the rabbits to eat almost all the seedlings one night.

Michel supplied all the materials and much of the labour to install a rabbit proof fence. All the time this was going on, Emma was busy making Delphine, that very special dress for Michel's birthday.

Some weeks before lockdown Delphine had showed them her diary from 2015 and the sketch of the dress that she had made some fifteen years before after a weekend in Paris where she had visited the Follies Bergère, there was a collective sharp intake of breath from Hayley, Emma and Maxine.
It was from that event that Maxine had gotten the idea of involving Emma in the grand scheme.

Delphine described the idea to Emma the day after she arrived.
"When the dancers came on to do the can-can, they lift the hems of their skirts to show a lot of leg. This is just what I fantasised about. Can you make one like this for me?"

“Are you really going to wear that to the party? Everyone will be able to see everything?” exclaimed Emma.

“Delphine gave herself lock stock and barrel to Michel. This is her giving herself to him,” said Maxine.

"Thanks, Maxine," said Delphine.
She turned to Emma.

“Emma, for more than twenty years, I lived for firstly my children and then my job at the HMRC. When Maxine introduced me to Michel, that was it. Something inside me said that I had to give myself to him. Something in me went click and all my inhibitions went out the window. That means he can have sex with me anywhere and anytime he wants. The spontaneity of it makes it all the more enjoyable. I’ve been commando every day other than a few exceptions for almost a year. I love the freedom. I know that you might think it odd but I would not want to go back to my old life even for all the tea in China.”

“But Delphine? You are wearing a corset and are tightly laced.”

"I do, and I am. That is all part of my freedom. I do this for me because I want to. Michel took a while to get used to it, but now he enjoys lacing me up every morning. We are not a conventional couple by any means, but we don't care what others think. It is our life. We are both getting on a bit so, why the hell should we conform to everyone's norms? Neither of us wants to do that at least for a few years."

Delphine carried on.
"This dress is a statement to my Husband. With both my breasts and fanny exposed, I consider it to be a renewal of my giving myself to him."

Emma just shook her head.

"Before I met Maxine, I truly had no idea what I was going to do in my retirement. Now I am happier than I have ever been before. I work a lot harder than I have ever done, but that is not difficult coming from sitting behind a desk for thirty years, but I love my life. Is that so wrong?"

“Henri sends a message,” said Delphine as she changed the subject.
“The package is on its way,” she added grinning.

Maxine looked at Hayley and smiled.

“Should I be worried?” asked Emma.

"Maxi and I are getting our very own corsets," said Hayley.

Hayley had taken some convincing to start even try wearing one, but some careful but persistent persuasion by Maxine, and to a lesser extent from Delphine had brought her around. Henri had supervised the measuring of their bodies via Skype in early March. Now, he had made their training corsets.

“I suppose that means alterations to lots of clothes?” said Emma.

Maxine grinned.

“Now I get why you invited me down here?” quipped Emma.

Everyone laughed

It was to be a rare moment of levity as both the national and international death tolls mounted by the day.

[that evening]

“Emma, you are pretty quiet tonight?” asked Hayley.

“I’m still trying to get my head around Delphine.”

“Don’t even bother to try. Just go with her eccentricities. As you saw for yourself, she is very happy with her life, so who are we to want to change her?" replied Maxine.

“But how did you two meet? I would imagine that you and the HMRC are not the best of friends?” said Emma.

Maxine laughed.
"Oh, the HMRC and the company are on good terms. We don't even try to cheat. It is just not worth it in the long run. The saying about life, death and taxes is so very true. We are honest with our returns, which is just what we want the companies we invest in to do. That's why I spent almost a week going over your accounts before agreeing to invest in your business.”

No one said anything, so she carried on.

“As for meeting Delphine, we first met when she was struggling with charging her car just off the A303, so I stepped in and helped her out. That was it, and she became my friend from then on. She travelled with me for five days while I carried out some research for my grand and now not so cunning plan. One of the places we went was to speak to Michel. I saw right away that both of them saw something in each other. So much so that hardly before I knew it, she'd sold up and moved in with him. They were married last summer and have not looked back since."

“Can you make that dress?” asked Hayley.

“I can. I’m going to need lots of material though. All those frills.”

Hayley looked a Maxine. Both of them grinned.

“Better order enough for three more but a little less… shall we say risqué?” said Maxine.

It took a second before Emma realised the implication of what had just been said.

“Are you serious?”

"We are. Are you game? It is only going to be the five of us at the party. Obviously, it is down to each of us how revealing they would be but why not? We have to do something proactive if only to keep some level of sanity in the lockdown. I’m not suggesting that they be anywhere near as revealing as Delphine’s dress would be but would be a lot of fun to really dress up for once in a while, wouldn’t it? Besides, what else do we have to do other than growing stuff?”

Hayley laughed.
“A lot of people would think that we are mad just for thinking like this.”

Emma’s eyes darted between those of her hosts.

Slowly a smile appeared on her face.

“It looks like I’m going to have my work cut out but yes,” replied Emma shaking her head in disbelief.

---

Emma soon had all the materials for the dresses ordered and got her workroom setup. A few days later, a large package from France was delivered.

It sat on the kitchen table for a while before Hayley said,
“If no one is going to open it then I am.”

Without waiting for any dissent, she quickly but carefully opened the package. Inside were as expected, two corsets. Underneath them was a surprise package. There was no label on it to help them identify what it was.

This time, Maxine opened it. Inside were a dozen pairs of fishnet stockings in various colours and a note.

“Enjoy these with your corsets at the party. Henri.”

Hayley grabbed a pair of red stockings.
“I bags these,” she said grinning.

“They will be perfect for those dresses,” commented Emma.

“I wonder if someone had a little word with Henri about the plan for the party?” asked Maxine.

“That must have been Delphine. Didn’t she tell us that these were on the way the same day as she showed us the design for the dress that she wanted me to make?"

There was a general agreement between them that this must have been what was had happened.

“She is a smart cookie,” said Emma.

Maxine grinned.
"I knew that from the first day that she travelled with me. She asked all sorts of very relevant questions. It was only over lunch that she told me that she had just retired from the HMRC. During that week, she made a good impression with many of the people we met but giving them tips on saving tax. If it is simple and saves people money, they will remember you. Make it complicated then people will think that it is a scam and ignore it. She was more helpful to me than I could have imagined."

---

As the lockdown progressed Emma took to life in the country s if she had been born there. Every few days, she would walk over to Michel’s and return with half a dozen eggs.

Hayley played her part by doing a lot of experimenting in the kitchen. Her mother was teaching her via a video link just like millions of others around the world were doing. Maxine and Emma were willing tasters because in the main, while the results might not have looked like the recipe, they mostly tasted excellent.

Maxine chiefly looked after the garden and the house. The good weather that the country experienced through most of April helped everyone adjust to lockdown life even if it was still almost impossible to buy staples like toilet rolls, baked beans and tinned tomatoes in the shops. Somehow, the mere fact that the sun shone almost every day, did its best to keep the morale of everyone high.

None of those in their Devon bubble could have dreamed of how the year was going to turn out.
[to be continued]