In the sixteenth century dolls were used as way of promoting new styles of dress in different countries.
Mrs Orchard lifted the lid on the great walnut coffer and took out a doll dressed in the German style.
‘Greta!’ Anne exclaimed.
The elderly woman handed Anne the doll. Its dress was beautiful, made from pink velvet and silk and finished with gold brocade. Her father had purchased it for her on one of his trips abroad. She had played with it so much that her mother had encouraged him to bring her back a doll from each country he visited. Anne had been fascinated by their different styles of dress.
‘She’s not the only one in here,’ Mistress Orchard said, taking out another. ‘Your mother saved them for you, all these years.’
The thought genuinely moved Anne.
‘You would tell your mother stories about them. Do you remember?’ Mistress Orchard asked, holding up the other doll, this one in traditional Scottish dress – a tartan kirtle, red taffeta gown, quilted gambeson, and sable fur cloak.
Anne nodded and peered into the chest. ‘Genevieve,’ she said, taking out a doll adorned in French attire with pearls through its hair. ‘I would tell my mother stories about her life at the French Court long before I was sent there.’
Mistress Orchard patted her hand. ‘No one else will tell her stories like that, my dear, mark my words.