Simon Scarrow - Fire and Sword

‘It will serve,’ said Gerald. ‘Come.’

They crossed the square and approached the Pakenhams’ house.The front door had been decorated with white ribbon that looped across the fanlight and it was evident that their approach had been watched, since the door swung open even as they were climbing the steps from the street. A footman bowed his head and gestured for them to enter.

‘Sir Arthur, Mr Wellesley, the service is being held in the drawing room. If you would follow me?’

They stepped inside and the footman led them down the hall. More ribbon adorned the chandeliers and freshly cut flowers filled urns that lined the length of the hall. At the end, double doors opened on to a large room with high ceilings and long windows overlooking the neat garden behind the house. A score of chairs had been arranged in rows in front of a makeshift altar. A handful of Kitty’s closest friends and relatives were already seated, and turned to glance curiously as the groom and his brother entered. Arthur nodded a curt greeting and then went and sat on one of the two chairs that had been set for bride and groom to one side of the altar. Gerald sat beside him and they waited in silence, until Arthur found it too awkward not to speak.

‘She must know we have arrived,’ he said quietly.‘Why is she keeping us waiting?’

‘Because she can,’ Gerald replied with an amused expression. ‘The woman’s prerogative, Arthur. I’ve seen this sort of thing at countless weddings. Don’t worry yourself, she will join us when she is good and ready.’

‘Woman’s prerogative be damned. I’ll not have my time wasted in this fashion.’

‘Arthur, calm down. It’s quite natural to be nervous before the ceremony.’

‘It’s not nerves, damn it. I just don’t see any need for a delay.’

‘Arthur, this is a marriage ceremony, not an army drill. It’s probably not a good idea to confuse the two if you want a lifetime of married bliss.’

Arthur clamped his lips together and folded his arms, staring rigidly ahead as the clock on the mantelpiece behind the altar ticked away.The other guests did their best to ignore his mood and talked in muted tones. An hour after the Wellesley brothers had arrived, and twenty minutes after the service had been due to begin, Tom Pakenham appeared at the door to the drawing room and cleared his voice.‘Ladies, gentlemen, my sister is ready to join us.’

‘Not before time,’ Arthur whispered.

‘Shh!’ Gerald nudged him, then rose to take his place before the tiny congregation who had come to witness the wedding of Arthur and Kitty. Tom waited at the door and a moment later was joined by his sister. Arthur turned his head and looked directly at her. His first reaction was to deny that this woman could possibly be Kitty. She was as thin as a stick, with sunken cheeks and eyes, and her hair, though still brown, was wispy and had lost the unruly curls of her youth. Only her lips, and something of her eyes, even reminded him of the Kitty he had known, and at that moment Arthur realised he had made a mistake.The most awful mistake of his life. What made it worse was the dawning realisation that there would be no undoing of this mistake. He could not withdraw from his commitment to marry her any more than he could stop drawing breath.

‘My God,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘She has grown ugly.’

Gerald glanced sharply at him, then turned to the bride and her brother, who was to give her away, with a welcoming smile. Kitty smiled back nervously and then squinted slightly as she stared at Arthur. Her smile flickered a moment, and for all his misgivings Arthur could not help but smile back rather than hurt the poor creature as he rose to his feet along with the other guests.

Tom Pakenham offered his arm to his sister, and led her towards the altar. When they drew up abreast of Arthur, Tom released her and stepped aside as Gerald raised his hands and began.

‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here to join together this man and this woman . . .’

As his brother continued with the ritual Arthur stared straight ahead, as if he was on a parade ground. Inside he felt his heart sink like a lead weight in mud.The years had settled on Kitty like a tattered shroud and the passion that he had once felt for her so strongly taunted him as a mirage taunts a thirsty man in the desert. On the periphery of his vision he sensed her sidelong glances at him, and he wondered if she felt the same way about him. Perhaps the years had been kind to neither of them. In that thought he managed to find some small scrap of hope. Even if their looks had faded, then surely their personalities would have escaped the ravages of time? Arthur clung to that belief as the ceremony wore on, and spoke his lines in a wooden manner that would have disgraced the very poorest of actors.

At length the service came to an end and Gerald pronounced them man and wife. The words fell heavily on Arthur’s ears and as he turned to face Kitty he forced himself to smile. He took her hands in his, and sensed her tremble.

‘There, my dear.As I promised all those years ago, I have married you the moment I was deemed suitable.’

Kitty smiled shyly. ‘I always dreamed you would.’

‘Thank you, my dear.You have no idea how much that means to me.’

Kitty blushed, and Arthur gently dipped his head towards her. Kitty closed her eyes as her lips pressed forward, but Arthur kissed her quickly on the cheek and withdrew. Kitty’s eyes flickered open and she looked at him with a faintly hurt expression.

Tom Pakenham cleared his throat again and announced that refreshments were available in the dining room.

‘Excellent!’ said Arthur.‘I’m quite famished. Come on, my dear Kitty!’

He slipped his arm through hers and led the guests out of the drawing room and down the hall towards the dining room, before she could think of kissing him again.

The wedding’s informality meant that speeches were kept to a minimum, and once a light meal had been eaten, the couple toasted and the cake cut, the newly-weds were escorted out to the carriage that Arthur had hired for their honeymoon.They climbed aboard amid the congratulations of the guests, and some of the passers-by, and once the door was closed the driver flicked his whip and the horses lurched forward. Inside Kitty and Arthur were jolted against each other and shared a quick laugh of embarrassment before they stared at each other, uncertain of what to say.

‘That was a beautiful wedding,’ Arthur blurted out finally, and then hurriedly groped for the most appropriate sentiment to express. ‘And this is the best day of my life.You have made me a very proud and happy man, my dearest Kitty.’

She looked at him, her expression flitting between doubt and hope, and then she took his hand and squeezed it.‘Arthur, this feels so strange. I feel I know you and yet I don’t.’ She paused and swallowed nervously. ‘And I fear that I disappoint you.’

Arthur kissed her, on the lips this time, and made himself linger there a moment before drawing back. ‘My darling, I have waited for this moment for all these years. How could you possibly disappoint me?’

Kitty smiled briefly and turned to look out of the window.‘I will do my best to be a good wife to you, dear Arthur. I will try to be worthy of the faith you place in me, and the honour you do me by holding to the promise you made so many years ago.’

‘Kitty, it is you who honour me.’

‘Shh! I know the truth of the situation. Just promise me that you will be fair and honest with me. I could not bear to be hurt by you, Arthur.’

‘I promise, my darling,’ Arthur replied as earnestly as he could, and then he turned to stare out of the other window as the carriage rumbled through the cobbled streets of Dublin, closed in on both sides by tall drab buildings that mocked the unblemished blue heavens above.