“Isn’t it wonderful that Mrs. Drake hired a string quartet to play for the wedding and the reception afterwards? Now that’s class,” Martha said.
Clara paid no more attention to the music. Getting Ginna and Martha downstairs was her priority. “You got your bouquet, Miss Martha?”
“I’ll get it.”
“And I’ll get Miss Ginna’s.” Clara walked over to the florist’s box and lifted the pale cascade of flowers, with its cream-colored streamers, from its resting place and handed it to Ginna.
One last inspection in the pier mirror, one last-minute adjustment of veil and bridesmaid’s ruffles, and then Clara gave her consent for the two to leave the bedroom.
“Good luck,” Martha whispered.
“Thank you.”
Charles waited at the head of the stairs. As soon as Nathan started down the steps, Charles offered his arm to Ginna.
“I should have checked Nathan’s pockets,” he whispered, “to make sure he didn’t bring a frog with him.”
“Well, if he has one, I just hope he doesn’t get near Cassie.”
Downstairs, Peggy nodded for Martha to descend the stairs. And when she was at the last step, Peggy nodded up at Ginna and Charles.
“Ready, Ginna?”
“Yes, Papa.”
The gilt chairs were in rows on each side of the aisle. At the entrance to the conservatory, Ginna stopped. Standing in front of the bowered altar, two men stood, one young, the other more mature. Yet they were of the same mold—Rad Meadors and his son Jonathan.
The fanfare began in a different key, announcing the arrival of the bride. All eyes turned to the open doors. Charles squeezed Ginna’s hand, and then they began the long walk down the aisle toward Jonathan and his father and the robed minister, who was holding the open prayerbook.
“Dearly beloved …”
Morrow and Andrew sat beside Allison. And on the other side of the aisle sat Cassie and Stanley, representing Ginna’s family. And once Charles’s role was over, he took his seat beside Cassie. He had an overwhelming urge to look over to where he knew Morrow was sitting. But his view was blocked. And he supposed it was just as well. His second daughter was being married. And it would not do for him to let his attention stray, even for a moment, from the ceremony.
If Ginna and Jonathan felt like imposters, they gave no outward indication of it as they swore eternal love for the second time. Of the guests, only Morrow and Andrew knew that an earlier ceremony had taken place.
The vows were spoken quietly, with conviction, and a few of the more emotional guests pulled out their lace handkerchiefs and dabbed at their eyes, for the bride and groom looked as if they had been destined for each other. Only the immediate family was aware of the obstacles that had almost separated them for good.
“With this ring, I thee wed.…”
Ginna heard Jonathan’s deep, rich voice and felt the plain gold band slide onto her finger. She gazed into his eyes, and the two, standing there, seemed almost oblivious of the guests as they were pronounced husband and wife for the second time.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
Jonathan slowly pushed back the veil from Ginna’s face and claimed her mouth. And a little ripple of satisfaction swept through the conservatory, followed by a louder gasp as two dozen white doves were released from their white and gold cages to soar overhead and finally light on the tall green trees behind the altar.
Martha returned the bridal bouquet to Ginna and straightened her train. As Jonathan and Ginna disappeared down the aisle, Martha then took Nathan’s arm and followed.
Nathan had come back for Cassie, then immediately returned to escort Allison, the mother of the groom. And with a nod from the minister, all the guests began to disperse, while the string quartet continued to play.
It was at the reception that Rad came up to Charles. “Charles, I don’t believe you’ve met Jonathan’s sister. My daughter, Morrow.”
“How do you do, Dr. Forsyte.”
For a moment, the intervening years had vanished and a young Allison was standing before him, smiling with those same dramatic amethyst eyes. He took a deep breath and forced himself to speak.
“How do you do,” he said. But no. He didn’t want to say anything so mundane. He wanted to shout to everyone in the room that the beautiful young woman who was greeting him so formally was not Rad Meadors’s child but the one he’d given up when she was only three. Instead, he said, “I understand you live in Chicago.”
“Yes. My husband is an architect there. Oh, Andrew, do come and join us. This is Ginna’s father, Dr. Forsyte. My husband, Andrew Lachlan. And, of course, you know my mother, Allison.”
Lila Montgomery and her husband, Richard, joined the group. Allison, sensing the awkwardness and the potential explosion, turned to Lila as the men began to talk.
“Did you ever find out what happened to your new maid, Lila?” Allison asked. “The one who disappeared on the trip to Chicago?”
“No. I even filed a missing person’s report on the little baggage. But Meara McClellan disappeared off the face of the earth. And she hasn’t shown up anywhere. Richard suspects foul play.”
Nathan, standing at Charles’s side, popped another mint into his mouth. “Did you say Meara? I think I know where she is.”
“Where, dear heart?” Lila asked, suddenly perking up.
Andrew’s attention left the other conversation. Before Nathan could reply, he gave him a severe frown.
And then Nathan remembered. He and Pinky had sworn to keep the Chicago episode a secret for all time. He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I was thinking of somebody else by that name. She’s a friend of Pinky’s, my school chum.”
Lila suddenly lost interest in Nathan and began to chat again with Morrow and Allison. Forgotten by the grownups, Nathan wrapped some of the wedding cake crumbs into a napkin and disappeared into the conservatory to lure the doves from their perches in the small trees.
And Ginna disappeared with Martha to the upstairs
