A Question of Trust
Page 64
The easiest decision of all for the bride had been saying yes to the bridegroom, despite his proposal following rather swiftly, and some might have thought unsuitably, upon another ceremony, namely the funeral of one of the bride’s best friends. But a few misunderstandings safely explained, there seemed little point to him in waiting any further, and fortunately the bride had agreed.
And how extremely appropriate for the best man today to have been best man at the wedding of the matron of honour and her husband: another piece of felicity, and even more so as it was he who had introduced the bride and groom. It had been his wish, most forcibly voiced, and the bride, touched beyond anything, had most happily agreed.
The speeches were all splendid; the groom’s a little short, for he said he had nothing to say except that he adored the bride, considered himself the luckiest man alive, and couldn’t wait to embark upon married life, and asked them to toast the very beautiful matron of honour, ‘And while you are about it, could we also raise our glasses to her husband who has recently – very recently – been elected as a Member of Parliament. I’m sure we all wish him well.’
The Member of Parliament, who was, at the behest of his wife, dressed rather more grandly than he felt appropriate to his new calling – but he was anxious to please her in as many ways as he possibly could – stood up and bowed and thanked him graciously.
Later, as the guests began to drift away, and the late summer dusk was thickening to darkness, Tom walked round the garden, thinking how, in spite of its sorrows, his life had been extremely blessed. He travelled back in time, to the very beginning, to his childhood in Hampshire, and to Diana, who recently, he had read, having retired rather publicly from modelling, was now turned society photographer, working closely with the gossip columnist Leo Bennett.
An unlikely liaison theirs had been, and hugely dangerous, but she had been a good and wise friend to him, and he would not have been in as happy a situation as he was today without her. For her advice that dreadful day, to set the tragedy of Laura finally behind him, whatever the circumstances and in whichever hospital they had occurred, and to concentrate on what he could do with his future, rather than what he could not with his past, had saved, he truly felt, his marriage and his career.
And then he thought of Laura and the tiny Hope, lying in the churchyard, and decided that the very next day, before they returned to Sandbanks, he would take not just Alice, but the children, to visit them; and he resolved in some strange and wonderful way to make them all one family.
Penny Vincenzi has written seventeen bestselling novels, which have sold over seven million copies worldwide, including No Angel, Something Dangerous, Into Temptation, Wicked Pleasures, Another Woman, Forbidden Places, Windfall, An Outrageous Affair, The Dilemma, Almost a Crime, and A Perfect Heritage, all available from Overlook. Before becoming a novelist, she worked at such magazines as Vogue, Tatler, and Cosmopolitan.
JACKET DESIGN © YELLOWSTONE LTD.
JACKET PHOTOGRAPH © NEJRON / ISTOCKHOTO
AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH © TREVOR LEIGHTON
Printed in the United States Copyright © 2018 The Overlook Press
THE OVERLOOK PRESS
NEW YORK, NY
www.overlookpress.com
ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK