Owen surprised Sarah at Christmas breakfast with a beautiful ring to signify she was spoken for and again made his proposal. He declared before his family that he was at last home, no matter where home might be, as long as Sarah was at his side. Their wedding was planned for New Year’s Eve at six o’clock at the Trinity Church. Kathryn had invited all of the finest people and Sarah asked Penelope to be her Matron of Honor and requested Owen stay at Vernon’s the night before the wedding, citing their marriage would be cursed if he laid eyes on her before the ceremony.
* * *
“Well, friend, I believe this evening calls for a toast,” Vernon said, carrying two snifters of brandy into his den and offering one to Owen.
“A toast it is,” Owen replied, accepting the glass and standing.
“To my best mate and lifelong friend, may you and your lovely bride have a long and loving marriage.” Vernon tapped the side of his glass to Owen’s and swallowed all of the brandy in one swig. Owen breathed in the aroma of the brown liquid and then sat the glass down on the side table near his chair.
“Still a teetotaler, I see?” Vernon poured himself another glass of brandy and called for the maid to bring Owen some tea.
“Ye know I’ve never had the taste fer it but I always have the taste for a toast to a happy marriage.”
“So, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“I suppose not. We’ve never held anythin’ back before so why start tonight?”
Vernon leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and weaving his hands together. “The wedding night, Owen, are you…nervous?”
Owen cringed and fell back in the chair, throwing his palm up over his eyes. “Oh, seriously Vernon, did ye have to bring that up?”
“I just wanted to make sure you knew we could discuss this. Look, I’ve been married a year and we have a baby on the way.”
“And yer point is, do I know what I’m supposed to do to make babies? I’m a doctor, Vernon; I believe they teach us where babies come from.”
Vernon laughed and slapped Owen lightly on the leg. “I’m not talking about the mechanics of it all, man. I’m speaking of the things women expect, like romance, intimacy and the like.”
“Many a man has had a weddin’ night, Vernon. I’m sure I’ll find everythin’ alright.”
“Owen, it’s not a sin to be a virgin when you get married.”
“Who said I was a virgin?”
“Oh, so there’s something you haven’t told me after all?” Vernon inquired, leaning forward again.
“Well, no, but I was just wonderin’ who told ye?” Owen burst into laughter and Vernon joined him. “Don’t worry friend, we’ve found everythin’ with our clothes still on our backs and I’m sure we’ll find everythin’ without them.”
Their conversation then turned to Owen’s plans for the future. As much as he’d grown and changed for the better in Philadelphia, he missed the quiet life, and land, lots of land. He knew Sarah preferred the country life as well and when he relayed all of this Vernon, he suggested they take a ride west into the valleys, upon Owen and Sarah’s return from their wedding holiday.
“I do know something about you that it’s possible even you don’t know,” Vernon commented, walking to retrieve a book from the shelf.
“Aye me friend who knows all and what might that be?”
“Here, look at this,” Vernon said, handing Owen a book about the mining areas north west of Philadelphia. “That’s beautiful country. Rolling green hills, fertile land, lots of people wishing they had a good doctor to take care of them.”
“Don’t beat about the bush with me. Say what yer thinkin’,” Owen stated, thumbing through the book and then setting it down on the table.
“You are at your very best when you’re helping people. I watched you at the hospital when I was there. I remember your passion in school, the way you always helped anyone who’d ask. Not to mention it’s in your blood. Your mother was a saint Owen. She gave her own life for others.”
Owen sat and thought for a moment and imagined those green hills and fields full of wheat, a few horses for Sarah and a clean, safe place for his yet unborn children to grow up. He couldn’t deny the fact that Vernon was on the mark and perhaps he did know him better from the outside than he knew himself from the inside.
“I’ll think on it. I know Sarah wouldn’t be hard to sell on it that’s fer sure.”
“I know how different we are. Penelope and I would wither and blow away like dust living out there but not you Owen. None of this money, house, fancy suits and even lavish weddings means a hill of beans to you. Up here, where you live,” Vernon said, tapping himself on his temple, “that’s the man you are.”
“Aye, you make a good point, but I like ta think I live closer to me chest, Vern.”
Owen took his tea to the guest room and sat on the side of his bed sipping it slowly and allowed the idea of the life his friend implanted in his brain to grow and spread into every corner of his mind. A simple, quiet, carefree existence and fresh clean air away from the industrial stacks and sewer odors sounded like a dream. Country people who desperately need a physician they could depend on seemed an opportunity to use his gifts as he’d always intended. The kind of medicine where you have to roll up your sleeves and get dirty and use your brain and your common sense, not just your training to heal people.
The next thing he knew, the chamber maid was knocking on his door to wake him for breakfast. He had a final suit fitting at nine and had scheduled a lecture at two o’clock to take his mind off of his anxious thoughts. He missed Sarah. His anxiety wasn’t over the wedding but rather over not being able to see her until six o’clock and not having had breakfast with her.
When he arrived at the church, Kathryn and Elizabeth were seeing to all of the final details and he and Vernon went to the rectory to dust each other off and place red greenhouse roses in the lapels of their suits. His vows and promises to the woman he adored were minutes away, and he would have run to the altar if he were permitted. The pastor motioned for Owen and Vernon to come and stand by him as the music started to play and all of those in their seats stood and turned to view his absolute and eternal love, manifested in the small raven-haired young woman now gliding towards him, covered in white lace.
At the conclusion of their vows, the church erupted in applause and they were showered in loving embraces and well wishes. They would receive their guests at the banquet hall at the college. Over one hundred and twenty guests, most of whom they barely knew or had never met before this day, would enjoy a few hours of his courtesy but all he wished was to steal his bride away and head for their holiday alone.
“Sarah, do ye really want ta take the train up to New York? I mean ta say, is there somethin’ else ye’d rather do? I know that wasn’t yer idea and…”
“What I want is to be with my husband wherever he goes, but no, I really would prefer not ta ride a train all night.” She curled up next to him in the carriage and held tightly to his arm, resting her veiled head on his shoulder.
“How would ye like to spend our weddin’ night here in Philadelphia and tomorrow mornin’ we’ll go on a little adventure?”
Sarah’s head popped up. “Oh, Owen, really? What kind of an adventure?”
“I had a chat with Vernon last night and it has me thinkin’ on some changes we may want ta make, in regards to where and how we want to live, and our future. I just thought we could go and see what we find.”
“Leave Philadelphia? Our family and friends?” Sarah’s voice was excited yet cautious all at once.
“Would ye…if I asked ye to?” Owen looked deeply into and through her ice blue irises into her soul, searching for the answer.
“I’ll go where ye go, Owen. I trust ye with me life.”
“I know this is an odd request on yer weddin’ day but I’ve only come to this idea since last night. It was Vernon. He reminded me of why I went inta medicine.”
“Ye’re a wonderful p
hysician. Any hospital would be lucky to have ye.”
“I’m imaginin’ a much different arrangement.”
“Such as?”
“Why don’t we wait until tomorrow, Sarah, and take that adventure. Then we’ll see the whole picture.”
“Look, we’ve arrived.” Sarah straightened her dress and veil and pulled her cape around her shoulders.
The evening was the event of the season, even outshining the holiday gala. Yet again Owen found his dancing feet and even lead many of the Irish folk in attendance in reels, leaving his brow damp and his vest stained down the back with perspiration. He rushed off the dance floor and snatched the hand of Aunt Kathryn, spinning her around again and again before doing the same with his mother-in-law, as Sarah watched in complete delight. Everyone clapped and whistled. The foot stomping shook the glasses on every table and the band played on and on for hours until William rushed to the grandstand shouting for everyone’s attention.
“Lads and lassies, give me yer ears! Aye I know a few of us are far beyond lads and lassies and will be cruelly reminded of that come mornin’ when we can’t leave our beds…” The guests roared with laughter. “But look at the time! The hour of midnight is almost upon us! Gentlemen, grab hold of yer fine women and prepare to greet the New Year!” He dashed forth and took Elizabeth in his arms as if he wore half his years, twirling her and catching her when the room turned around her. Owen’s attention was pulled away from Sarah for a moment when he spied the young porter pulling the red velvet curtains back from the balcony doors to release the suffocating heat in the ballroom.
The time closed in on midnight in slow motion. It appeared to Owen that the porter’s task progressed at the rate of a snail creeping along the trunk of a tree. Every muscle in his body stilled and his breath was trapped in his chest. He was afraid to blink and miss what may be on the other side of the doors. But Sarah took his face into her hands and his attention was pulled away.
“It’s time to let go,” she whispered. “Let her go, Owen.”
As the clock struck twelve, the room erupted in the jubilant noise of greetings to the new year. Owen held Sarah’s tear-filled eyes to his own and seized her with a passionate desperation, bursting with equal parts joy and sadness. When he finally regained his senses and the tears began to dry, he ached no more. Every doubt or fear, every bitter taste and sour smell of his life evaporated like puddles on a cobblestone street beneath the boiling summer sun.
“Ye’re right, Sarah. I’ll be right back. There’s somethin’ I need ta do.” He rushed to the young porter and handed him a wad of folded money. He spoke to the man for a moment and the young porter seemed very pleased with the result of the conversation and raced from the ballroom and out of sight. Owen turned and regarded Sarah lovingly as she stood waiting for him. He strolled towards her, adjusting his collar and opening the top button. He untied his tie and whipped it from around his neck, tucking it in his pants pocket and stopped at least five feet from her.
“Everyone, look!” he shouted, extending one arm towards Sarah, who looked puzzled by his actions. “In me wildest imagination I could not have conjured up a more beautiful, graceful and perfect woman. Thank the good Lord she’s as crazy as a loon and fell in love with the likes a me! I’m just happy all of ye witnessed this grand event because you, missy, can’t deny me now!”
With the words still hot on his tongue, Owen rushed towards Sarah and scooped her up into the air and over his shoulder. “We’ll be goin’ now. Thank ye for comin’. We’ve other weddin’ business to attend to! Happy New Year!”
He stomped out of the ballroom with Sarah over his shoulder and their guests cheering and waving them off. Sarah lifted her head and covered her face with her hands, peeking out at the elated faces and laughing at her predicament.
“Mrs. Whelan’s cape, please,” Owen stated to the young man in the cloak room, and then tossed it up over Sarah, still perched on his shoulder, before descending the wide marble stairs. Once they reached the foyer, he whistled for Martin.
“Doctor Whelan, is Mrs. Whelan well?” Martin inquired, leaning around to get a view of her.
“I don’t think so, Martin. I do believe she needs a doctor’s care immediately…and for the remainder of her life!” Owen beamed. “Can ye get the door there, Martin?”
Martin rushed to the carriage door, laughing as Owen tipped Sarah inside, climbed in behind her and pulled the shades. Martin waited a moment before tapping on the carriage door. “Doctor Whelan, where are we going?”
“Yes, Doctor Whelan, where are we goin’?” Sarah questioned.
“Take us to the Green’s on Chestnut, and if ye breathe a word a where ye left us, yer fired!” Owen joked.
“But we don’t have a reservation,” Sarah said, stroking the side of Owen’s cheek.
“Oh, but we do, thanks to a lightnin’ fast young porter with five dollars in his pocket.”
When they arrived at the hotel, Martin left them in the carriage and rushed into the lobby to verify the arrangements. Finding everything in order, he obeyed Owen’s order to go back to the house and pick up their packed bags for New York and return them to Green’s without a word of their whereabouts. In the meantime, Owen carried his prize across the threshold of the bridal suite.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“Mrs. Whelan, are ye gonna sleep all day?” Owen brushed the wisps of tossed black curls away from Sarah’s face as she slept.
Sarah stretched her arms way above her head and twisted beneath the thick white comforter, and then pulled it up over her head. “What time is it?”
“Time fer breakfast, love. I’ve taken the liberty of orderin’ room service. I’m not ready to let ye outta bed just yet.” Owen climbed beneath the bedding and whispered into her hair.
Sarah pulled him against her, curling into him with a deep sigh. “Come back ta bed.”
“Our breakfast will be here shortly.”
“They’ll leave it outside the door.”
“What about our adventure?” Owen reminded her, drawing locks of her hair through his fingers.
“Another adventure, ye say?” Sarah asked, her voice curling upward.
“What do ye mean another; we haven’t left this room all night?”
Sarah slid her hands under his arms and up over his back, pressed her lips against his, and pulled him over her.
“Oh, ye Devil woman, yer goin’ to starve us ta death.”
“Ye’ll never starve, my love, and neither will I.” She slid her bare leg from beneath the sheet and pressed it against his hip.
Sometime after Owen found himself completely powerless to his wife’s touch, he dragged himself from the bed, wrapped himself in his robe and opened the door to find their cold ham and eggs, tepid tea pot and stale biscuits resting on a large silver tray. He brought it in and shrugged at Sarah as he sat it on the table in the sitting area.
By noon they’d finally had their bags taken to the train station. The train would take several hours to reach Wilkes-Barre, and this being the first rail ride for them both, it extended their adventure and added to the excitement of their first day of marriage. They enjoyed telling everyone they met that they were newlyweds, starting a new life as well as the New Year. Well wishes were plenty as well as advice from elder travelers. The time flew by with their new acquaintances and they were pulled into the station just before supper time.
Without many lodging choices, they found a quaint inn which also accommodated travelers for more than a night and even rented rooms indefinitely for twenty-five cents a week to the coal miners who either couldn’t yet afford a place of their own or didn’t want one. The beds were clean, the food was hot and plentiful and the people were friendly and kind. The town was chronologically still in its infancy but thanks to the abundance of anthracite, it was on its feet, toddling around just fine.
There was a dry goods store, clothing shop and a cobbler. There were also saloons, a school house and even a small medical office wit
h a sign on the door that read: “BE BACK NEXT MONTH.”
“Next month? Owen, what are these poor souls to do until next month?” Sarah asked, appalled at the fact she was surrounded by women and children in the street and there was no doctor on duty to be found.
“That Vernon is a real piece a work, he is,” Owen mumbled. He’d noticed the signs of the steel company as they entered the town and recognized it as one of the investments Vernon had spoken of the night before the wedding.
“What’d ye say, dear?”
“Come along, Sarah.” Owen wrapped her arm under his and continued on through the town. “We need to send a post to yer ma and da and let them know we’re alive.”
* * *
The following week, they arrived at the Philadelphia train station to find Martin waiting as they’d requested in their letter home. During the ride, they’d settled their decision to move to the Wyoming Valley and begin their lives together, once Owen settled his affairs at the University and with his estate in Philadelphia. Knowing his home in the city was nearly paid for, he decided not to uproot his aunt unless she chose to join them since William’s and Elizabeth’s visit was coming to an end.
As Owen surmised, Kathryn chose to stay and Owen had Vernon draw up the paperwork needed in order to transfer the home and its contents into her name, with he and Sarah as the beneficiaries. Kathryn was only a woman of fifty-two and healthy as a horse, so he had every confidence that she’d get along well with Anne Marie and Becca at her side.
By the end of February, they bid a sad farewell to William and Elizabeth but welcomed them to the valley whenever they were free to return. William was anxious to get back to his law practice and Elizabeth finally conceded to give up their estate in the country and take on the life of a lawyer’s wife in Dublin. After having lived in Philadelphia and experienced the conveniences of shopping at the Arcade, and being able to walk about and socialize with her peers awakened something in her. She thanked Kathryn for showing her who she used to be. Elizabeth embraced her younger self and welcomed her back, as did William.
Hope from the Ocean: (The Prequel to Fireflies ) Page 27