‘If you can’t splash out on your only daughter’s wedding, when can you?’
‘Never?’ she’d said, and laughed.
But she had given in and now, as she took a final look in the mirror, Thanet said softly, ‘It was worth every penny, wasn’t it?’
She smiled. ‘It certainly makes me feel special enough to be the mother of the bride.’
‘Mrs Thanet?’ Lucy’s voice. ‘The taxi’s here.’
‘Coming.’ She turned and gave Thanet a quick kiss. ‘See you in the church.’
He went down with her and waved them off, then stood waiting for Bridget in the hall. The sight of her as she came downstairs, a vision in cream silk, floating veil secured by a tiara of miniature roses, brought tears to his eyes. ‘You look absolutely beautiful, Sprig,’ he said, reverting to her childhood nickname.
For once she didn’t object to it. ‘Well done, Dad,’ she said with a teasing grin. ‘That’s what every bride wants to hear.’
En route to the church she sat serenely, clearly determined to enjoy every moment of the day. He kept on glancing at her, trying to reconcile the bride-woman beside him with the baby, the toddler, the schoolgirl she had been.
At the church they posed for photographs before moving to the entrance porch. The organ launched into the opening chords of Mendelssohn’s famous wedding march and as he led her proudly down the aisle familiar, smiling faces floated past as if in a dream. He saw Alexander turn to greet her with a loving look and then the ceremony began with the solemn, time-honoured words of the traditional 1662 marriage service.
‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy matrimony . . .’
Please, let them be happy, he prayed. Don’t let them become a divorce statistic. Give them the strength to overcome the difficulties which lie ahead, the perseverence to work at their relationship when it would be so much easier to give up.
And here was his cue, the words which for him and him alone had a very special significance: ‘Who giveth this Woman to be married to this Man?’
Thanet stepped forward, took Bridget’s hand and gave it to the priest, who laid it gently in Alexander’s.
Look after her, Alexander, Thanet urged silently.
There, it was done. For him it was a truly significant act.
It was time, finally, to let go.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dorothy Simpson is a former French teacher who lives in Kent, England, with her husband. Their three children are all married. This is her fourteenth Luke Thanet novel. Her fifth, Last Seen Alive, won Britain’s prestigious Silver Dagger Award. Her most recent Thanet novels are A Day for Dying, No Laughing Matter, and Wake the Dead.
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ALSO BY DOROTHY SIMPSON
Suspense
HARBINGERS OF FEAR
Inspector Thanet
A DAY FOR DYING
THE NIGHT SHE DIED
SIX FEET UNDER
PUPPET FOR A CORPSE
CLOSE HER EYES
LAST SEEN ALIVE
DEAD ON ARRIVAL
ELEMENT OF DOUBT
SUSPICIOUS DEATH
DEAD BY MORNING
DOOMED TO DIE
WAKE THE DEAD
NO LAUGHING MATTER
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1998 by Dorothy Simpson
Originally published in Great Britain in 1998 by Little Brown and Company
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Once Too Often Page 23