Willow Grove Abbey (41 page)

I kept
my silent to Spence about what I’d seen. It was Christmas Day, and Isabella was bouncing on the bed at the crack of dawn, anxiously begging Spence and me to hurry so that she might see what Father Christmas had brought to her. She didn’t seem in the least surprised to find that Spence was in my bed, and since Isabella didn’t ask any questions, neither Spence nor I offered any explanations. We intended to announce our impending marriage at breakfast, and knew that Isabella would be beside herself. It wasn’t the time to launch into a discussion about Papa and Edwina. The Somerville family had a tradition, whereby we met in the dining room on Christmas morning, ate a large breakfast, and then removed to the drawing room for gift exchange. When we arrived downstairs, but the only person present was Papa. I immediately asked where Mummy, Edwina and Kippy were, as of course the Isabella couldn’t wait to get the meal behind so that the excitement could begin. I knew that the Hausfater’s were due any moment.

“Pa
mela felt a bit under the weather this morning,” Nigel said. “Nothing serious... probably taking a winter cold. She’ll be down in time, but she’s told us to go along and begin our breakfast without her. I’m having Nan send a tray up to her,”

“What of Edwina?” I then asked.

“Edwina’s decided to join your mother for breakfast in Pamela’s room. It was generous of her to not want Pamela dining alone,” he added.

I was beyond furious. Edwina had obviously enjoyed a night of love
making with Papa and then, only a few hours later, was going to enjoy breakfast with Mummy in her bedroom! It was unbelievably cheeky. Unfathomable!
Could she have any conscience at all?
It was perfectly amazing that I didn’t lose my composure and blurt out my rage. But it was Christmas, and Spence and I had such lovely news. I simply was not going to let anything ruin that happy occasion. So, I kept my mouth tightly buttoned, and never even said anything to Spence. God knows, he had all he could deal with, as he faced the loss of dearly loved RAF friends, companions and colleagues, not to mention fighting to protect our nation. He didn’t need to hear about the foolishness of two very selfish people.

It wasn’t long before both
Mummy and Edwina appeared. Mummy was wearing a lovely white satin dressing gown, and Edwina was dressed in a pale yellow cashmere skirt and sweater, which matched her hair.

Soon the Hausfater’s arrived, and we se
ated ourselves at the table, which was beautifully set with blue Wedgwood Queens Ware, Mummy’s loveliest Sterling silver, and crystal champagne flutes. Once comfortably gathered, Spence stood up, and proposed a toast with his glass of champagne. He tapped on the edge of the crystal rim, and the glass tinkled prettily.

“
Sophia and I have some very nice news to announce, which we hope will be a happy Christmas gift for the family, and especially for Isabella,” he said, as he looked down at his daughter with loving eyes. Of course, the others had to have known what was coming, but it was still thrilling to hear him say the words. “We’ve decided to be married as quickly as possible, while I’m still home on furlough. I’m going to be spending a good deal of time on the telephone in my quest to find a priest who’ll marry us on short notice, but I’ll succeed. I’ve promised Sophia.” The entire family, minus Mummy, reacted as I knew they would. There were kisses and shouts of glee from everyone, and Isabella jumped out of her chair and ran to me, clapping her hands.

“Oh
Mummy. Is it true? You and Papa are going to get married? Does that mean that you’ll be together forever and ever?”

“God willing, darling. We’ll be pro
mising that to each other. And, you’ll be called ‘Isabella Stanton’, since Papa is going to make certain that your name is changed to what it should have been when you were born. As soon as we’re married, you’ll be ‘Isabella Stanton’. Do you like the sound of that, precious?” I asked, smiling. Isabella hopped up and down like a little bird, and then danced a little jig. We all burst into laughter over her antics. Next, she ran upstairs to her grandmother’s room, and fetched Mummy and Edwina. She told them that her Mummy and Papa had a grand Christmas present for everyone, and that they needed to join us. It wasn’t long before both Mummy and Edwina appeared. Mummy was wearing a lovely white satin dressing gown, and Edwina was dressed in a pale yellow cashmere skirt and sweater, which matched her hair. Of course, Isabella had not been able to contain herself, and had already told them the news. For once, Mummy wasn’t upset at having to leave her bed. She seemed genuinely happy, and said as much to Spence, and me.

“When are you going to be
married?” Edwina asked. “Are you thinking of doing so before Spence has to leave on the 29th
th
?”

“Spence intends to find a priest who’ll perfor
m a ceremony for us before his return to Fowlmere. He feels confident that he can do so,” I replied.

“What will you wear,
Sophia?” she asked.

“I haven’t given it a whit of thought,” I answered. “I don’t care if I have to wear rags. It’s just the cere
mony that counts.”

“Oh, but you
must have a glorious outfit for this special day,” Edwina replied. “I know, Sophia. I have a gorgeous white velvet suit, with gold braid at the cuffs and round the edges. It’s a Chanel. I’ve never worn it. You’re welcome to borrow it.”

“That’s awfully nice, Edwina, but anything of yours would fall to
my toes.”
I didn’t add that it would also be about three sizes too large.

“Couldn’t Nan alter it? I’ll wager that she could, with
my help. Don’t forget, I
am
a designer. I would love for you to wear it, Sophia,” she added. There didn’t seem to be any gracious way to say “No” to her generous offer. I was still harboring anger over her antics of the previous night, and really wished there was a graceful way to decline her offer. However, I gave in, and said that I would accept Edwina’s generosity. Edwina ran back up the stairs to retrieve the suit, and I couldn’t help but think that there was a flash of the old Edwina in such a gesture. Perhaps I was being too hard on her, although the facts certainly made it a horrific situation. Edwina returned in scant minutes, with the magnificent suit, covered by a fabric dress-bag. It was truly lovely, and did look the perfect outfit for a wedding.

“Now, wh
at shall I wear?” she continued, pursing her lips, and placing her finger upon them. “Since I’ll obviously be the Matron of Honor, I’ll need to look smashing. Do you have a color preference, Sophia?”

“U
m... well... I hadn’t even thought of an attendant,” I answered, rather taken aback by Edwina’s statement. Of course, I would need someone to stand up for me as a witness, but the last person alive whom I wanted was Edwina! Yet, how could I tell her that, without Mummy wondering why I was being so rude? It seemed I had been presented with a Matron of Honor. “Well... I guess anything you have that would blend with the style of the suit,” I answered. “You know I prefer pastels, but if you don’t have a dress like that, anything will do.”

“Yes, I do have several pastels. A shell pink silk dress, and an ice blue satin suit, or a pale green
moiré dress. I think the shell pink might be just the thing. You can carry a nosegay of pink and white roses, which will be lovely, and I’ll carry a smaller version of the same.”
It seemed that I had also been presented with a wedding planner.

“How thoughtful of you,” Edwina.
Sophia, you are so fortunate that Edwina is here at this special time. She has such exquisite taste. Everything she has suggested sounds perfect,” Mummy commented.

“Oh yes, I know I’
m terribly fortunate to have her here,” I replied, and no one seemed to notice the bit of sarcasm in my voice.

Spence wisely stayed out of that conversation, knowing that I would have to handle it as
I saw fit, and of course, I realized that I had very little choice.

Spence laughed. “Well, thank God I don’t have to worry about fashion.
My RAF uniform will have to suffice. It makes things simple.’”

“I love your unifor
m,” I replied. You will be the best looking groom in the world.”

“What about
me, Mummy? “ Isabella asked. “What thall I wear? I want to look beautiful. It’s a thpecial day for me too,” she continued.

“I know it is darling, and we’ll
make certain that you’re the most beautiful one of all. You have several lovely frocks. We can look them over, and decide which would be most suitable. And, you can carry a basket of flowers,” I added, getting into the spirit of things. Isabella clapped her hands and jumped up and down some more.

“Co
me, sit down and eat your breakfast now though, darling, so that we can open the gifts that Father Christmas brought. I think there are quite a few under the tree with your name upon them,” I said, coaxing my little girl, so that we might move the morning along. Isabella appeared to have forgotten that it was Christmas, as the wedding news temporarily erased everything else from her thoughts. But, once reminded, she scampered round the table, took her seat and began to eat a bowl of oatmeal.

“Where is Kippy?” I asked. “Surely he’ll be opening gifts with us?”

“Oh yes. Helen is feeding and bathing him, and then she’ll bring him down,” Edwina answered. I’ll have to pick out a precious little outfit for him to wear to your wedding too. Won’t this all be fun?”

I answered that “it would, indeed, be fun
”, but there was very little time, so that we mustn’t try to get too elaborate. “Besides, I want a very simple ceremony. Nothing flashy. Just quiet and meaningful.” Everyone seemed to understand my wishes.

After we finished eating, Spence took
me aside and asked whether I still had the engagement ring of long-ago. I told him that of course, I did, wrapped in velvet at the bottom of my jewel case. He kissed me. “Run upstairs and fetch it. It needs to be on your finger, where it should have been long ago.” I almost burst with joy. I’d actually forgotten all about the ring in my excitement, but was so pleased that he had remembered. It took less than five minutes to retrieve it from my room, and when I returned, I was wearing it on my left hand. Everyone in the family oohed and aahed and told me it was one of the loveliest rings they’d ever seen. I thought it was too. I had forgotten how the emerald flashed in the light, and how the diamonds were such a perfect counterpoint to the deep, rich green of the square-cut stone.

“What shall we do about a wedding ring?” I asked? I suppose I can
make do with this one, and use it for both. Otherwise, I would just want a simple, platinum band to go with this, but could we find one on such short notice? And with everything in such short supply because of the war footing?”

“
Sophia, I have the perfect ring for you,” Mummy answered. It was your grandmother Somervilles’. It’s exactly what you want. Just a simple, platinum band. I’ll fetch it after breakfast, and you can decide if it will work.”

I was deeply touched. It
meant a lot that my mother was giving her wholehearted support to my marriage, and I truly loved the idea of an antique ring that had been in the family. I thanked Mummy profusely, and said that it sounded perfect. Finally, we all adjourned to the drawing room, and settled down to the business of exchanging gifts. The children were wild with excitement, and it was fun to watch them, but I have to admit that I didn’t concentrate on much else except the fact that I was going to be Mrs. Spencer Stanton at long last.

And two d
ays later that is precisely who I became. Spence literally pulled off a miracle. He found a charming little Catholic Church in the small hamlet of
Witford,
not far from
Bedminster-with-Hartcliffe
. The priest was a warm, kindly man, who understood our dilemma completely. We drove to
Witford
and met with him on the day after Christmas, and he said that he would be pleased to marry us the following morning. A whirlwind of activity followed, with clothes being altered, pressed and cleaned, and miraculous flowers appearing from a floral shop in Bristol. Mummy had some connections where those were concerned. She produced the aforementioned ring, as well as my Grandfather’s wedding band for Spence, a wide band of gold. Spence treasured it.

Isabella was dressed in a pink taffeta, full skirted dress, with a ruffled he
mline and ruffled cuffs. She looked like a tiny Victorian princess. Even Kippy wore a black velvet baby romper, with a tiny white shirt beneath it. Everything was as perfect as could be, and it was truly an amazing feat, given the time constraints. There is no question that it was the happiest day of my life. I didn’t have my father walk me down the aisle, and instead opted to enter the small chapel on Spence’s arm. He looked splendid in his RAF dress uniform, and when the words “I now pronounce that you are husband and wife” were spoken, there were tears streaming down both of our faces.

Afterwards,
Mummy rushed over and kissed me on both cheeks and told me that it was the prettiest wedding she’d ever attended, which was doubtful, but certainly gracious of her. “You know, Sophia, I was so surprised,” she added, “The ceremony wasn’t the least bit heathen. There was scarcely any difference between this ceremony and the Anglican, except of course for that beastly Latin,” she commented, in the way that only Mummy could. I simply had to laugh, for I knew that Mummy honestly meant it as a compliment. I was much too happy to point out that my mother’s words were very rude. I could tell that Spence was biting back his own laughter when he heard her comments. Spence was so easy-going and mellow, that I knew there couldn’t have been much that might have upset him, unless it had been something that wounded me. He’d forgiven Mummy’s threats of long ago. Sometimes he amazed me with his ability to forgive, and I vowed to try to be more like him.