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Ghighi and Charlene moved through all ranks of society, from those who want their names kept out of the papers, like Charlene's father, to those who want to get them in, like the top levels of the New Frontier. Charlene's father had long been a close friend of Joseph P. Kennedy. The two now have mansions on Palm Beach's North County Road, and warm neighborliness prevails. President Kennedy sometimes stayed at the Wrightsmans' home; when he hasn't, he and Jackie have gone to parties there. Jayne Wrightsman, who has made the latest best-dressed lists, is a good friend of Jackie's. She has advised the First Lady on White House refurbishing and accompanied her on art gallery shopping tours.
Ghighi and Charlene were close to that group. And Ghighi's brother, Oleg Cassini, is Jackie Kennedy's official dress designer. Even Ghighi admits that the Kennedys like Oleg better than they like him. But he insists he and Charlene rated high with the White House: "There is a good relationship between the President and Mrs. Kennedy and us." White House sources, on the other hand, insist that the Kennedys had socialized precious little with the Igor Cassinis since the inauguration.
The Tensions. But life with Ghighi was no champagne cocktail. His charm for women was always electric—and friends recall that Charlene, who seemed to love him deeply, was jealous of his attractions. Ghighi also had legal problems. A public relations firm that he was associated with took on the Dominican Republic as a client in 1959, when it was ruled by Dictator Rafael Trujillo.
Last winter, after an investigation by Bobby Kennedy's Justice Department (Ghighi is not nearly so fond of Bobby as he is of the other Kennedys), Cassini was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of failing to register as an agent of a foreign government. His trial is set for next month. After the indictment, Charlene's father, who never cared much for the columnist, seemed downright hostile to the Cassinis.
There were other tensions too. Charlene was in poor health recently. A few years ago, she suffered a painful leg injury while skiing in Vermont. At first she attended parties while swinging gaily between crutches. But the leg kept giving her trouble. Last year it buckled beneath her while she was standing on a stool changing a light bulb. She fell to the floor, suffered a broken nose and a concussion. From then on, she was plagued with blinding headaches.
Early this month one of her favorite people, Vermont Ski Instructor Peter Estin, 35, was found dead in a New York hotel room of what was officially described as "visceral congestion." His funeral was in Boston last week. Charlene did not go, but Ghighi flew up in the private plane of George Skakel, brother-in-law of Bobby Kennedy. He returned in the evening, stopped at his Fifth Avenue apartment to dress for a dinner party. Charlene complained of a toothache, so Ghighi went by himself. Charlene and her stepdaughter Marina, 14—Ghighi's daughter by his second wife—settled down to watch the Academy Awards show on a television set in Charlene's bedroom.