Lucy Gordon - And the Bride Wore Red

Her father seemed faintly embarrassed to see her, but that was par for the course. He muttered something about how she must be short of money, pressed a cheque into her hand and departed, confident of having done his fatherly duty.

The cheque was large enough to make Olivia stare, and since she was indeed short of money she accepted it thankfully, if wryly. But she wondered what was going on.

She found out when her mother telephoned that evening.

‘Darling, I have the most wonderful news. You’ll be so thrilled-but I expect you’ve guessed already.’

‘No, I haven’t guessed anything.’

‘Daddy and I are going to get married.’

‘Married?’

‘Isn’t it wonderful? After all these years we’ve discovered that our love never really died. We were always meant to be together, and when that’s true nothing can really keep you apart. Don’t you agree?’

‘I don’t know,’ Olivia whispered.

Luckily Melisande was too wrapped up in herself to hear this.

‘We’ve both suffered so much, but it was all worth it to find each other again. The wedding is next Friday and I want you to be my bridesmaid.’

She should have been expecting this, but for some reason it came as a shock.

‘Melly, I really don’t think-’

‘Oh, but, darling, it’ll be so beautiful. Just think of it-true love rediscovered, and there, as my attendant, is the offspring of that love. Now, come along, don’t be a miserable old grumpy. Of course you’ll do it.’

‘So I said yes,’ Olivia told Norah next day. ‘At least, she said yes, and I didn’t have the energy to argue. Somehow I just can’t take it seriously.’

‘Oh, it’s serious, all right,’ Norah said caustically. ‘You can’t blame your mother. Time’s getting on, and it was a very big win.’

‘What was?’

‘Your father had a win on the lottery some time back.’

‘So that’s where the cheque came from.’

‘I’m glad he had the decency to give you some, even if it was just a way of shutting you up. He’s rolling in it at the moment, which explains a lot about “love’s young dream”. Or, in their case, love’s middle-aged dream.’

‘Oh, heavens,’ Olivia said, beginning to laugh.

She attended the elaborate wedding and endured the sight of her parents acting like skittering young lovers. At the reception almost everyone made speeches about the power of eternal love, and she wanted to cry out at the vulgar exhibition of something that to her was sacred. Afterwards Melisande embraced her dramatically.

‘I’m so sorry you’re here alone. Wasn’t there some nice young man you could have brought? Well, better luck next time. We don’t want you to be a miserable old maid, do we?’

‘I suppose there are worse things than being alone,’ Olivia observed mildly.

‘Oh, no, my darling, I promise you there aren’t.’

‘I’m very happy for you, Mother.’

‘You did promise not to call me that.’

Olivia’s sense of humour came to her rescue.

‘If I can’t call my mother “Mother” on the day she marries my father, well, when can I?’

‘Pardon?’

‘Never mind. Goodbye, Mother. Have a happy marriage.’

Soon it would be the twenty-third of the month, the day on which Biyu had wanted her and Lang to marry. They had laughed at her determination, but now Olivia’s heart ached to think of it.

‘She’s consoling herself with Wei’s wedding,’ Lang told her. ‘He and Suyin were going to wait until autumn, but she ordered them to make it the twenty-third, so they did as they were told.’

Olivia dreaded the arrival of the day but it started with a pleasant surprise. Opening a parcel delivered by the postman, she discovered a butterfly brooch that exactly matched the one Lang had given her. On the card he’d written,

Do you need me to tell you that it’s all still true? Call me as soon as this arrives, any time.

It was midnight in Beijing but he was there waiting for her.

‘Thank heavens!’ he said fervently. ‘I’ve been praying I wouldn’t miss your call.’

‘You should be getting some rest,’ she chided him fondly. ‘You look tired.’

‘I can’t rest until I’ve talked to you. Tell me that you like it.’

‘It was exactly what I needed.’

‘Tell me that you still love me.’

‘Yes, sir ,’ she said, giving him a mocking salute. ‘I obey.’

‘I’m sorry.’ He grinned. ‘I don’t change, do I? Still giving orders.’

‘Giving direct orders isn’t really your way. You’re better at pulling strings from behind. I guess you’re just practising an autocratic manner for when you get the job. Has anything happened?’

‘It’ll be any day now. Darling, you still haven’t told me that you love me.’

She was feeling lighthearted for the first time in weeks. ‘Well,’ she teased. ‘Let me see…’

She was interrupted by the sound of his phone. He snatched it up, and immediately became angry.

‘What, now ? All right, I’m coming.’ He turned back to the screen. ‘That was the hospital. I have to go. We’ll talk again tomorrow.’

‘Lang, I-’

But he had gone.

She sat very still for a while, looking at the blank screen. Then she went to bed.

Next morning the doctor said to her, ‘Norah can’t be left on her own, but if you’re going to live with her then I think we can send her home.’

‘Yes, I’ll always be there,’ Olivia assured him quietly.

Norah was sent home that very afternoon. They hugged each other joyfully and settled down to chat, but almost at once Norah was too tired to continue. Olivia put her to bed and sat with her for a while, feeling the responsibility settle around her shoulders.

Lang came online early that night. One look at his beaming face told her everything.

‘You got it!’ she exclaimed.

‘Yes, they confirmed it today. I now have a three-year contract at more money than I was earning before. I can afford a really nice home for you.’

Out of this only one thing stood out.

‘You’ve already signed the contract?’

‘I took the first chance before they changed their mind. I only wish you could have been there with me to make everything perfect.’

So that was it. He’d committed himself finally and, by a cruel irony, he’d done it on the day Norah’s return home had made her frailty even clearer than before. If anything more was needed to confirm that their feet were set on two different paths, this was it.

She smiled and congratulated him, told him of her happiness and then of her love. His look of joy was the same she’d seen before, as though nothing could ever change.

‘I love you so much,’ he told her. ‘I can’t wait for our life together to start.’

He parted with the words, ‘Give Norah my love. Tell her to get well soon.’

‘I will,’ she promised.

To her relief, the connection broke. In another moment he would have seen that she was weeping, but he didn’t see it, nor the way she reached out to touch the screen as though he were really there, then drew away quickly because he would never be there.

An hour later she looked in on Norah, who’d just awoken and was cheerful.

‘Come and sit with me,’ she said, patting the bed.

As Olivia sat down the light from the bedside lamp fell on the silver butterfly pinned to her shoulder.

‘That’s such a pretty brooch. I’ve noticed that you always wear it, so I guess it must be special.’

‘Yes, it’s very special,’ Olivia said.

‘Did he give it to you? Don’t worry, I won’t pry if it’s a secret.’

‘When have I ever kept secrets from you? Yes, Lang gave it to me at the airport when we said goodbye.’