Sealed With a Loving Kiss (12 page)

Peggy closed her bedroom door and let her breath out on a sigh. It had been a long, busy morning and the day wasn't even half through. She returned Daisy's smile and quickly changed her nappy before seeing to herself. Having put on her make-up and tidied her hair, she pulled on fresh underwear and her one decent pair of stockings before slipping on the lace-edged slip that was made from the same material as the suit lining.

Once dressed, she stood and admired herself in the mirror, for the pale blue silk suit looked gorgeous and showed off her slender figure to perfection. The straight skirt reached to just below the knee, and the raglan-sleeved jacket had a deep collar which revealed a hint of the lacy slip where the front of the jacket was crossed over to be fastened at the side. With the matching sash tied round her waist, she grinned with satisfaction before she slipped on her shoes, pinned on the hat and hurried to get Daisy dressed in the lovely dress and coat Evelyn had bought in London.

Peggy emerged from the bedroom with Daisy in her arms to find that Evelyn was waiting for her in the kitchen with Cordelia, Ron and Harvey – and a glass of champagne. ‘Julian's gone up to have a few quiet words with Suzy before everything gets going,' Evelyn said as she patted Daisy's cheek and admired her in her new outfit. ‘I don't need to tell you that she looks utterly beautiful and that I've had to put at least four handkerchiefs in my bag.'

‘Me too,' admitted Peggy, who thought Evelyn looked like a fashion plate in her gorgeous grey shantung dress and coat, and matching hat. Her shoes and handbag matched the cream band that ran round the hat, and pearls glowed discreetly in her ears and at her throat. ‘You look lovely,' she breathed.

‘And so do you. Where
did
you find that gorgeous suit?'

Peggy was in the midst of explaining about Sally when there was a knock on the front door. ‘That must be our taxi,' she said and quickly drained her glass. ‘Cordelia, Ron, it's time we were leaving.'

‘Surely you aren't going to carry Daisy about all day?' Evelyn frowned with concern.

‘Ron took the pram round to the church this morning and left it in the vestry,' Peggy explained as she chivvied Ron and Cordelia out of the kitchen to the anguished howls of Harvey, who'd been quickly shut in the cellar. ‘She's far too heavy, and wriggles worse than an eel now she's finding her feet.'

Peggy opened the front door and looked back up the stairs to the lovely, excited faces of her girls as they leaned over the landing railings and waved. ‘See you all in church,' she called up to them.

As the taxi pulled up outside the church and they climbed out, they could already hear the beautiful organ music drifting from inside. Other people were arriving and Peggy recognised them as Suzy's nursing friends from the hospital, so she said hello, introduced them to Evelyn, and then hurried in to greet the rather elderly vicar and put Daisy in her pram.

Having strapped her in firmly, she pushed the pram down the aisle, nodding and smiling to everyone before she kissed poor, nervous Anthony and shook hands with his very calm and rather dull-looking best man, who introduced himself as Robert Goodyear and explained that he worked with Anthony at the MOD. Peggy parked the pram by the front pew against the wall, gave Daisy her bottle of juice, then sat down and looked round at the gathering.

There was no sign of Martin yet, but then he had said he might be late. Cordelia and Evelyn were now coming down the aisle, and Ron slipped into a pew towards the back next to Rosie, who looked very glamorous in a black hat and pink suit. Peggy hoped she hadn't left Tommy in charge of the pub for the rest of the lunchtime session, for she could say goodbye to any profit if she had.

Just as Evelyn took her place on the bride's side of the church, Doris made a grand entrance on Edward's arm, her honey-coloured silk dress perfectly matching the long mink coat and hugely extravagant hat. The whole outfit looked new – Doris had obviously been shopping this morning. ‘You can say a lot of things about my sister,' she muttered to Cordelia, ‘but you can't deny she knows how to dress for the occasion.'

Cordelia eyed Doris up and down as she and Ted came to sit next to her, and then sniffed with disapproval. ‘If you think so, Peggy,' she said acidly. ‘Mutton dressed as lamb, if you ask me.'

Peggy wasn't at all offended by this, for she knew there was no love lost between Cordelia and Doris. She settled back to listen to the wonderful music, while Daisy waved her rag book about and beamed an almost toothless smile at everyone. Mary looked so different in Evelyn's lovely dress and jacket, and her hair really suited her that way. My goodness, she was growing up fast, and how beautifully she could play that ugly great brute of an organ.

The music came to an end and she saw Mary look towards the main door. Her heart began to thud and she could already feel the tears beginning to prick in anticipation. Then Mary played the opening phrase of the bridal march and everyone was on their feet.

A radiant Suzy virtually floated down the aisle on her father's arm in a confection of white taffeta and lace, the bouquet of exquisite white lilies, dark green ivy and copper leaves trailing almost to her toes, the cobweb of veil drifting over her beautiful face.

And there were Peggy's girls following her in the dresses that Evelyn had brought down from her dressmaker in London. They were in soft shades of gold, silver and russet, except for the chief bridesmaid, Fran, who wore a deep shade of copper which enhanced her magnificent hair and made her look like a sprite that might just have momentarily ventured out of her forest glade.

Peggy could barely see as she shot a glance at Anthony, and the tears were already threatening to ruin her make-up when she saw how his eyes shone with love and his face lit up as Suzy came slowly towards him. How wonderful. How simply perfect it all was. Oh, she did so love weddings.

The service began as the young couple stood by the altar steps and the aged vicar welcomed them all and gave the usual preamble about marriage being a serious business in his quavering voice. Then they all stood again for the first hymn, ‘Love Divine', and Peggy found she was too emotional to be able to sing, so just enjoyed listening.

The service continued and then Julian's wonderfully rich, deep voice rang out as he read the passage from the bible that told the story of the wedding at Caanan. This was followed by the heart-stirring ‘I Vow to Thee, My Country', which left everyone reaching for their handkerchiefs.

The vicar led the couple to the altar, where they knelt in prayer before they exchanged their vows and Anthony slipped the wedding ring on Suzy's finger. Then he tenderly lifted the veil and shyly kissed his beautiful bride before they turned towards the congregation and, with beaming smiles, headed for the vestry to sign the register.

As Julian and Edward left their pews to join them so they could witness the register, Peggy's heart skipped a beat. Fran hadn't followed the rest of the bridal party but was standing on the altar steps, the violin nestled under her chin, her glorious hair and dress making her look almost of another world.

She shot a glance at Doris, who was staring at the girl with deep suspicion, and she could only pray that, for once, her sister would keep her mouth shut and not cause ructions.

And then the haunting strains of the violin soared to the high rafters and everything else was forgotten as the music captured and ensnared them and they were unable to tear their gazes from the glorious girl with the autumnal hair and shimmering, copper-coloured dress.

There was a stunned silence as the final note gently drifted away, then people forgot where they were and rose as one to applaud. Peggy was crying, and so was Cordelia – even Doris looked tearful, and as Peggy glanced round the church she could see an awful lot of handkerchiefs being put to good use.

Then Mary struck the first chord for the triumphal entrance of the newly married couple from the vestry, and Fran slipped in beside the rather stunned-looking Robert Goodyear to join the procession down the aisle. She grinned at Doris and gave a naughty wink to Peggy as she walked past.

‘Did you know about that?' rasped Doris.

‘I certainly didn't,' Peggy replied truthfully. ‘But wasn't she magnificent?'

Doris cleared her throat and delicately dabbed her eyes with a lace-edged handkerchief. ‘You should have warned me it was Fran I was lending my very expensive violin to.'

‘Oh, Doris,' Peggy sighed as everyone gathered their things and prepared to follow the bridal party out of the church. ‘Just give the girl some credit for once. She'll do that violin no harm – you only have to see how lovingly she plays it to know that.'

‘I grant you, she does play extremely well, which came as a real shock. One would never have imagined …' She noted Peggy's glare and quickly changed tack. ‘But subterfuge is something I cannot forgive. It's clear that Mary was in on it, and I shall be having a few words with her once all this is over, I can tell you.'

‘Oh, give it a rest,' snapped Peggy. ‘They played at your son's wedding because they wanted to make their day special. Don't spoil it, Doris. Or I'm warning you, you'll have me to deal with.'

‘Well, if you're going to be vulgar like that,' Doris retorted with a sniff, ‘then there is obviously no point in carrying on this conversation.'

‘Put a ruddy sock in it,' Peggy muttered crossly, ‘and let us all enjoy the day without you carping on about things that don't matter.'

There were no church bells to ring out the joyous news of the wedding, for they'd been silenced for the duration of the war to be used only if there was an invasion, but no one seemed to notice as they rushed to be the first to congratulate not only the bride and groom, but also a triumphant Fran.

Peggy bumped the pram down the shallow steps and pulled up the hood. Despite the bright sun the wind was cold, and she didn't want Daisy to get a chill. She'd been marvellous during the ceremony, and when Fran had played, she'd sat wide-eyed and silent, as if mesmerised.

‘Fran, that was truly wonderful,' Peggy said when she finally managed to get anywhere near her. ‘I don't think I've ever seen people react like that in a church.'

Fran grinned impishly. ‘Doris was po-faced, but she did compliment me on my playing and said I could borrow the violin for the foreseeable future as long as I promised to accompany Mary when she does the charity concert on New Year's Day.'

Peggy rolled her eyes. ‘I might have known she'd want something in return.' She glanced across at the best man, who seemed to be completely transfixed as he stood at a distance and admired Fran with undisguised longing. ‘I see you've got an admirer,' she softly teased.

‘Lord help me,' whispered Fran. ‘Robert's not my sort at all, but there's nothing I can do about it. Is he still staring at me like a lovesick puppy?'

Peggy nodded as she regarded the rather earnest, awkward young man. ‘Give him a chance, Fran,' she coaxed softly. ‘You can't always tell a book by its cover, you know, and he could turn out to be extremely nice.'

Fran chuckled. ‘You'll not be match-making, now would you, Aunt Peg? To be sure, I'm happy the way I am.' She gave her a quick hug and moved away to talk to the other nurses while the young man's gaze followed her every move.

If only Robert had the gumption to approach her and actually talk to her, then he might get somewhere, thought Peggy in frustration. But then Fran was a lively spirit, and she probably terrified him with her beauty and her bright personality. The poor boy's admiration was doomed to failure unless he turned out to have some sort of saving grace.

Peggy turned her attention away from Fran and the lovesick best man and saw Mary being hugged and thanked by Suzy and Anthony before she was captured by Evelyn. She'd give her own thanks later, she decided. She looked round at the gathering to see if Martin had made it yet, but there was no sign of him, and she could only suppose that the traffic had held him up.

Peggy wandered from group to group, and although she chatted and laughed and gave the impression that she was quite happy to be on her own, there was a deep yearning to have Jim by her side, and his arm to lean on – not separated from him by the many miles between here and the Far East. And yet she wasn't the only woman on her own, and as time went on, she began to really enjoy herself.

Mary was feeling shy and rather embarrassed by all the praise that had been heaped on her, and although she knew she looked as smart and sophisticated as everyone else, her feet were killing her in the tight shoes.

Once the photographs had been taken and the confetti had been thrown, Edward drove the bride and groom back to Havelock Road. Julian then crammed Doris, Evelyn, Cordelia, Rita, Jane, Sarah, Fran and Mary into his enormous Rolls-Royce, and they purred along feeling terribly grand as they giggled and gave regal waves to those who stopped to watch them pass.

As the bridal party formed a welcoming line in the hall, two of Anthony's work colleagues from the MOD drove back and forth to ferry the remaining guests from the church to the reception. The house was soon filled with laughing, chattering people who drank the champagne, ate the delicious food and admired the magnificent sea views from the drawing-room window.

Mary sipped the lovely champagne and saw that Doris was in her element as she graciously greeted everyone and made sure they had something to drink, and someone to talk to. Mrs James and her handsome husband were equally good hosts, and Anthony and Suzy held hands as they drifted from group to group in a haze of happiness.

As darkness fell and the blackout curtains were pulled, Suzy slipped away to change out of her lovely dress into a smart navy suit and hat. Everyone gathered on the doorstep to wish them well, and Anthony drove them away in the little car he'd borrowed from his office pool, the tin cans, balloons and old shoes rattling along behind them.