CHAPTER NINE
Anne’s wedding day dawned with high blue skies and fluffy white clouds. She felt preternaturally calm as Miss Bonteen helped her dress in her beautiful silver and white wedding gown. The house had been full the last two days, and Anne had been kept busy. Between consulting with the new cook, with Mr. Corby, the minister who was to marry her, and with Aunt Julia, she had little time to herself. Which she thought might be a good thing – it left her too tired to worry when she went to bed at night.
Joining the group visiting Grex was Miss Alice Francis - an elderly cousin of Aunt Julia’s whom she had brought along for no reason Anne could see, Anne’s fiancé, and Mr. Denver, the man who was to be Daniel’s groomsman at the wedding.
None of Anne’s family knew what to make of Mr. Denver. He was a well-spoken man, a good-looking man, and his manners were perfectly correct. But there was something not quite right about him; he was not ‘one of us.’ Anne had seen Aunt Julia monitoring him at table, and if Aunt Julia hadn’t found anything to complain about, then there wasn’t anything. He was tall, taller than Daniel, and he had wide shoulders, brown hair and hazel eyes. Daniel had introduced him as an old friend from India days, and that was all they knew. Aunt Julia was put out about the whole thing.
“Just who is this Denver person?” she had complained to Anne when Mr. Denver first arrived. “Where does he come from? Who are his people? Surely you have asked Mr. Dereham to explain him, Anne!”
Anne, Aunt Julia, Miss Francis and Miss Bonteen were all seated in the newly painted drawing room drinking tea. Anne put down her cup and sighed. “Aunt Julia, it isn’t easy to ask Daniel questions about personal matters.”
“I think you have the right to know about a man who is to be in your wedding party,” Aunt Julia said. She picked up a biscuit and vigorously broke it in half. “That young man must be made to understand that he’s no longer a vagabond from God knows where. He’s the master of Grex! He’s somebody! He can’t have nobodies standing up for him at his wedding.”
Anne said patiently, “Aunt Julia, I can see nothing at all wrong with Mr. Denver. He is pleasant, well informed, and a friend of Daniel’s. Surely Daniel should be allowed to pick the person he wishes to stand up for him at his own wedding.”
Miss Francis said in her thin quivering voice, “I believe Mr. Denver has a tattoo on his wrist, Lady Anne. I saw it when his sleeve pulled up a little last night at dinner.”
“You didn’t tell me that, Alice!” Lady Moresack said.
“The opportunity never came up, Julia,” that lady replied with composure.
Anne tried not to roll her eyes. In the scheme of things, she thought, Mr. Denver was the very least of her problems.
She had indeed tried to bring up the subject of Mr. Denver with Daniel, and had come up against the proverbial brick wall. In the pleasantest way possible, he had made it known that Mr. Denver was none of her business. Privately, she had agreed with him. So now she folded her hands in her lap and said cajolingly, “I know you’re upset about this marriage, Aunt Julia. I know you’re worried about me. I know you wanted me to marry Martin Abbey. But I am happy with the match. I am living in the home I love, and Daniel has been a very pleasant companion these last few days. Please don’t worry. I shall be fine.”
Lady Moresham sniffed and touched a handkerchief to her eyes. “I am very fond of you, Anne. You know that. I am only thinking of your happiness.”
“I know you are, Aunt Julia,” Anne said. “But I am happy. Daniel is willing to spend a great deal of money to restore Grex, and he wants me to take charge of the renovation.” She gave Lady Moresack her lovely warm smile. “Don’t worry about me, Aunt. When Grex is looking better, I’ll invite you for a visit, and you will see for yourself how happy I am.”
Lady Moresack sniffed again, put her handkerchief away and said, “You are such a brave girl, Anne. If anyone can be happy in this situation, it is you.”
# # #
As she stood in the back of the church with Miss Bonteen, Anne thought of her aunt’s remark. She had been feeling perfectly fine until she reached the church steps, then her stomach and chest had tightened and her heart had begun to thump. She shut her eyes and prayed hard that she wouldn’t faint.
“The church is filled,” Miss Bonteen remarked complacently. “Everyone in the village and local countryside has come.”
Anne let her eyes drift over the filled pews. As Miss Bonteen had pointed out, most of the people she had seen in church every Sunday of her life – the local gentry, the village shopkeepers and tradesmen - were there. She looked down the aisle and saw Mr. Corby, the vicar who had baptized her. He was in full ecclesiastical regalia. Standing in front of him their backs to her, were her soon-to-be husband and his groomsman, both immaculately dressed in formal black tailcoats. Her father and brother were seated in the first pew, which had belonged to the Grex family since one of her ancestors had built the church several centuries earlier. Aunt Julia was with them, with her cousin Miss Francis.
That’s my entire family, Anne thought. Papa, Percival and Aunt Julia. Except now there would be Daniel.
Miss Bonteen patted her arm. “Are you ready, dearest? The music should begin momentarily.”
Anne turned to look at her old governess with tears in her eyes. “I love you, Bonny,” she said. “You’re the only real family I’ve ever had.”
Tears sprung in Miss Bonteen’s eyes as well. “I will never desert you, my love. Always remember that.”
Anne swallowed, and the organ began to play. Miss Bonteen nodded encouragingly. Anne gripped the fragrant bouquet she was holding and began to walk slowly down the aisle. Miss Bonteen, clad in a simple blue gown with a figured bodice, followed behind. The congregation rose and turned to get their first look at the bride.
I’m making a terrible mistake, Anne thought as she walked past the smiles of everyone she knew. I don’t know this man at all, and here I am going to pledge my life to him.
She cast a quick glance at Daniel as she came closer to the altar. What was she doing with a man who looked like that? How could she expect him to be loyal to her? He knew as little about her as she knew about him. He didn’t care a fig for her, he was marrying her to get Grex. She knew that, had been fine with it, but now…when it was too late…
She had reached the altar and Daniel moved to stand beside her. She glued her eyes on Reverend Corby, but every cell of her body was aware of the man beside her, of that strange power he seemed to exude, even when he was just standing quietly, as he was now.
Mr. Corby began, “Dearly Beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy Matrimony; which is an honorable estate, instituted of God in the time of man’s innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church…”
It was too hot in here. Anne’s vision blurred. She blinked, squeezed her hands around the stem of her bouquet, and commanded herself not to faint.
A warm hand covered her grip on the bouquet. Startled she looked at Daniel. He squeezed her rigid hands gently, shot her a quick smile, then turned back to the vicar.
“First it was ordained for the procreation of children…”
Children. Aunt Julia had talked to her last night about children and about how they were made. She had heard all about her duty and how she must bear sexual congress, unpleasant though it may be.
“…ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication…”
Fornication. Anne knew what that word meant. Would Daniel humiliate her by fornicating with other women after they were married? Aunt Julia had spoken to her about that too: Heaven knows what he got up to while he was in India. One can only hope he has the decency to be discreet. But your duty, my dear, is to ignore it. Whatever he might do with other women, ignore it. Cultivate your own friends and your own diversions. That is the way a lady behaves.
The vicar had reached the vows. Miss Bonteen gently turned Anne toward Daniel, who had already turned to her. She listened as the Vicar said to Daniel: “Wilt thou have this Woman to thy wedded Wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?”
Daniel’s crystal blue eyes held hers. I will, he said firmly.
The vicar turned to her: “Wilt thou have this Man to thy wedded Husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, Honour and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”
Daniel’s eyes were smiling at her. Anne lifted her chin and said resolutely, “I will.”
Next Anne’s father upheld his brief role as the man who giveth this Woman to be married to this Man, and Daniel took her hand as he pledged his troth to her. He was so calm, so steady, and that helped her. She returned his pledge softly: “I Anne Elizabeth Sophia take thee Daniel Patrick to my wedded Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I give thee my troth.”
Daniel placed a ring on the third finger of her left hand and said, “With this Ring I thee wed, with my Body I thee worship, and with all my worldly Goods I thee endow.”
At last Mr. Corby had come to the end, “For as much as Daniel Patrick and Anne Elizabeth Sophia have consented together in holy Wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth each to other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a Ring, and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they be Man and Wife together, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
As the vicar said the blessing over them, all Anne could think was: It’s over. It’s done. I am married to Daniel Patrick Dereham.
They walked down the aisle together and stood side by side, along with her father and Percival, to receive the good wishes of the congregants. Everyone congratulated Daniel, and wished her well. The squire and his wife, the Bestons who lived in Ivy House, the Ralphs who lived in Saye House, the Bartons, the Housers, the Smythes, the Woodhouses, all of the local gentry were there in their best attire and would be coming back to the house for a wedding breakfast. Then there were the villagers, people whom Anne had done business with ever since she had taken over the reins of the household - the blacksmith (it had been a very long time since Grex could afford to keep its own blacksmith), the shoemaker, the carpenter, Mrs. Lewis who owned the local market, Mr. Holt who owned the feed store, Mr. Daily who was the apothecary…all the people who served the needs of the local farmers and townsfolk. They had their wives and children with them, and everyone was dressed in their best clothes.
They looked so happy for her, and Anne realized it had been right to have the wedding in the church. These good people deserved a celebration, and Daniel had rented a tent to be set up on the back lawn to serve food and drink to them, as they did not qualify as gentry and could not be invited into the house.
For a wedding trip Daniel was taking Anne to Heysham, a pretty village located on the shore of Morecambe Bay. He had never been there himself, but he had heard from ‘people who know’ that there was a fine hotel with views of the Irish Sea, and several places of interest to explore. They were going for a week, to give time for all of the visitors to clear out of the house, Daniel had said when he told her of his plan.
Anne had been pleased. The idea of getting used to a husband while her family was still around was not an idea she had relished. But now, as she changed into her travel dress in her childhood bedroom, the thought of being alone with Daniel Dereham was making her nervous. Perhaps staying at Grex, with other people around, would have been a better idea she thought, as she nervously took her place in the carriage Daniel had rented.
Before she went out to the carriage she kissed Bonny, her father, her brother, her aunt and her cousin goodbye. “You must all come for a visit when we have finished our renovations,” she had said, smiling as brilliantly as she could.
Everyone agreed, and came out of the house to wave goodbye. Her father helped her into the carriage, her husband stepped in from the other side, the doors closed and they were off. She was alone with Daniel Dereham, the stranger she had married.