The organ music stops, and there’s a cold rush of air up the aisle as the doors are flung open. The ancient organ makes a great gasping sound, as though filling its lungs with air, and Mrs. Bantry crashes into the familiar sound of the wedding march.
Everyone stands as the bridal procession begins. I crane my head around, but there are so many people that I can’t see anything. There are gasps and whispers around the church. When Elaine comes level with my pew, I have to stifle a laugh. Robert is in a traditional morning suit, as is Alex. I’d expected Elaine to wear something suitable for her age and the fact that she’s been married for twenty-five years.
Instead, she’s wearing a full-length white bridal gown with huge puffy sleeves and a train. She also has a heavily embroidered veil. She’s obviously going for the full bridal experience. Well, good for her. Why not?
Elaine’s train is surprisingly long, and it takes Mum a few seconds to catch up. When I see her, I give a snort of laughter which I quickly turn into a cough.
Mum is wearing a full-length bridesmaid’s dress in a shocking shade of violet. Unlike Elaine’s dress, hers is strapless and very tight fitting. I’d expected her to be wearing flowers in her hair. Instead, she’s opted for a tiara of amethysts and diamonds. It perches on her upswept hair like a bird of paradise.
As we take our seats again, I look at Robert and Alex. Did either of them have any idea of the splendour in store for them? Robert doesn’t look surprised, so probably Elaine showed him the dress in advance. But Alex looks stunned. His mouth has fallen slightly open, and he’s staring at his mother with such an expression of bemusement that I almost burst out laughing.
As if sensing my presence, he turns his head and looks at me. For a moment, we stare at each other, caught in each other’s gaze. I recognise the familiar glint of amusement in his hazel eyes and can’t help responding. My heart begins to thud in the annoying way it does whenever he’s around. I want to look away, but I can’t.
The vicar clears his throat, breaking the spell. ‘Dearly beloved, he begins. ‘We are gathered here …’
I look down at my order of service, no longer wanting to laugh. I’m completely over Alex Fielding. So, what am I doing staring at him like a lovestruck teenager? I need to get myself under control.
I look at the back of Elaine and Robert’s heads, trying to compose myself and determined not to meet Alex’s eyes as I listen to the familiar words of the service. I’ve always loved weddings, with their hope and optimism and promise of the future. It’s nice that Robert and Elaine have spent twenty-five years together and are still enough in love to want to celebrate it all over again. I wonder whether I’ll ever find that for myself. Maybe not, but I know I could never settle for anything less.
The vicar raises his eyes from the prayer book at last. ‘And now, I believe that the bride and groom have written their own vows. I’m very much looking forward to hearing them.’
He nods to Robert, who pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolds it. He looks pink but determined.
‘Elaine, I knew the moment I saw you that you were the person with whom I wished to spend the rest of my life.’
He pauses and straightens the paper. ‘I didn’t think it was very likely that I’d succeed. You seemed to have every young man in the area buzzing around you, and I didn’t think you would ever notice me –’
‘I probably wouldn’t have,’ interrupts Elaine, ‘if it hadn’t been for –’
He holds up a hand. ‘I believe it’s still my turn.’
There’s a ripple of laughter. Elaine doesn’t look remotely abashed. ‘Go on, then.’
He smiles at her. ‘Thankfully, you hit that lamppost with your father’s car one evening. I’ve never seen anyone look so scared. I couldn’t understand it until I met your father.’
A fresh wave of laughter runs around the church. I chance a look at Alex and see he’s laughing too.
Robert folds up the paper and puts it back in his pocket. ‘I would have taken the blame for you, no matter what. I couldn’t bear to think of you being so upset. But luckily for me, you agreed to go to dinner with me afterwards. And the rest, as they say, is history.’
He looks down at his wife with such love in his eyes that I feel my own eyes fill with tears. ‘Elaine, we’ve spent twenty-five very happy years together. We’ve had two beautiful children, and we’ve been blessed with a lovely home and wonderful friends. But if we’d had none of those things, I still wouldn’t have a moment’s regret about marrying the woman I’m very sure I couldn’t live without.’
The woman sitting next to me gives an audible sob and pulls out a handkerchief. ‘That’s what I want,’ she whispers to me, and I nod.
The vicar clears his throat. ‘Thank you, Robert. I’m not sure you’ll be able to beat that, Elaine. But I’m very sure you’re going to try!’
Elaine beams around at the congregation. She turns back to Robert. ‘I’ve written you a poem. But I know how much my poems embarrass you, so I’ll give it to you later. When I first suggested we do this, you weren’t too thrilled. But I’m very glad you agreed. It gives me the chance to say in front of everyone how much I love you. Thank you for twenty-five happy years. Thank you for loving me and supporting me, and thank you for our children.’
She looks over at Alex. ‘There’s something I want to say to you too. When you meet the person you’re supposed to be with, you have to have the courage to tell them how you feel. It took a lot of courage for your father to tell mine that he’d backed his car into a lamppost. But if he hadn’t, he and I might never have got together, and you wouldn’t be standing here today. That’s all I have to say.’
‘I think that’s about it,’ she says to the vicar. ‘So, why don’t you hurry up and declare us man and wife again so we can get on with the next twenty-five years?’
The vicar raises an eyebrow. ‘If you’ve quite finished telling me how to do my job, Elaine?’
He looks around the congregation. ‘I seem to have missed out the part about objecting. It also seems a little late for that. May I assume that no one here has any objection to raise? Good. Then I now declare Robert and Elaine man and wife. You may kiss … oh, I see you’re a little ahead of me.’
The congregation bursts into applause as Robert and Elaine break apart and walk back down the aisle, hand in hand. Mum seems unsure whether to follow them. Dad takes her hand, and she beams up at him. I watch them walk down the aisle together, feeling a lump in my throat.
I glance at Alex, who’s talking to the vicar. I feel a momentary impulse to go and talk to him, but I squash it. I have nothing to say to him. Perhaps if I’d found the courage to contact him while I was in Paris, we could have talked and worked things out.