A harassed young man called, ‘Next,’ as Alex and Teddy moved to the counter.
‘We would like to apply for a Special Marriage Licence,’ Alex stated.
The man reached below the desk and took out a form, which he gave to Alex. ‘Fill it out and bring it back with the appropriate fee,’ said the clerk.
‘How much is the fee?’ Alex asked.
‘It’s on the chart on the wall over there.’ The clerk indicated a framed chart of charges. ‘Next!’
They left the registrar’s office, crossed Sydney Street, dodging the puddles, and walked down the King’s Road to a café, where they ordered tea and a decidedly stale fancy cake. They completed the application form before realising that they needed a witness to their signatures, so they asked a smartly dressed man at the next table if he would oblige.
‘Certainly, old boy,’ he said, and signed the form with a flourish, appending his name and address where required. ‘Jolly good luck, you frightfully lucky chap!’ He winked at Alex.
They took the form back to the registry office and rejoined the queue
When it was their turn, an equally beleaguered middle-aged woman had replaced the harassed young man. ‘Five shillings,’ she demanded.
Alex paid her.
‘It will be ready tomorrow after midday,’ she confirmed.
‘Might we also book an appointment?’ Alex took the bull by the horns.
She looked up and smiled. ‘There’s nothing before Thursday, I’m afraid; we’re popular at the moment.’
‘That will be fine,’ Alex said.
‘That’s 3.30pm then, on Thursday 12th October. Names?’
He gave their names, although the clerk could easily have looked at the form.
‘That will be another guinea,’ she confirmed, and she started to write out a receipt. ‘Make sure you bring this and your licence with you, and don’t be late. Try to arrive fifteen minutes early if you can.’ She handed over the receipt before calling, ‘Next!’
There, it was done! Alex and Teddy went back onto the King’s Road, where the rain had given way to glorious autumnal sunshine.
Looking down the road towards Sloane Square, Teddy’s face creased into a delightful smile. ‘Look,’ she said, pointing, ‘a rainbow! That must be a sign of our good luck. Come on, let’s see if we can find the pot of gold!’
‘There’s no need,’ Alex remarked, ‘I already have!’ He leant down to her and kissed her gently. ‘So, soon-to-be Mrs Carlton, what do you think? Happy?’
She answered by kissing him full on the lips, ‘Yes, Mr Carlton, I think that I am!’
After a moment of quiet consideration, Teddy raised the only cloud on the horizon, ‘And now to tell Mummy and Daddy!’
Alex had forgotten about that entirely.
He and Teddy jumped on a bus heading to Piccadilly; Alex did not want to spend the morning of his wedding picking up his new uniform, so he decided to press them for completion on Wednesday, and this was a task best accomplished face to face, rather than by telephone. As it turned out, the tailor could not have been more helpful; of course, Lieutenant Carlton must have his new uniform for his wedding day, and, of course, they will make sure that it is ready on Wednesday.
As they were leaving the shop, the tailor extracted a single white rose from the arrangement by the counter and presented it to Teddy. ‘For madam,’ he fawned, ‘Lieutenant Carlton is extremely fortunate to be marrying somebody of such beauty.’
It was all Teddy could do to keep a straight face as she thanked the tailor for his generosity. Alex smiled and rolled his eyes, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from collapsing in laughter.
Initially intending to return home after leaving the shop, they caught the Piccadilly line from Green Park towards Earls Court; on the way, Teddy made the decision to deal with her parents that afternoon, so they changed lines at Earls Court and headed south of the river to Wimbledon Park.
Knowing that her parents had an extremely narrow circle of friends and seldom went out in the afternoon, Teddy had decided to take a chance and surprise them by calling uninvited. They both knew that this would irritate her father’s strict code of etiquette, but that was half the fun.
Her father was trimming the foliage in the front garden militarily, and, even dressed in old clothes, he still looked as though he had stepped straight from the officers’ mess.
‘Daddy!’ Teddy began before continuing with the lie, ‘We were in the area, so we thought we’d drop by to see you both.’
It was clear that Teddy’s father neither believed her nor welcomed their unannounced intrusion. ‘In the area, were you? Well, your mother’s inside; I shall be in presently.’ He went back to tending his garden.
Taking Alex’s hand, Teddy led him up the garden path and rang the doorbell. When Teddy’s mother opened the door and saw them standing on the doorstep, she smiled. She urged them to come in, opening the door to the front parlour and ushering them inside while trying frantically to make sure that her hair was perfectly in place.
‘How nice to see you both.’ She seemed genuinely welcoming. ‘It’s lovely to get visitors occasionally.’
‘Mummy, Alex and I are getting married on Thursday at 3.30pm at the registrar’s office in Chelsea, and we both want you and Daddy to come. I particularly want Daddy to give me away. Please say that you will?’
It was at this very moment that Teddy’s father chose to join them. ‘What’s happening?’ he demanded.
‘Teddy and Alex are getting married on Thursday, and I have told them that we would be there.’
‘Where?’
‘In Chelsea at the registrar’s office,’ Teddy’s mother replied sweetly.
‘Not in church then? Still, I suppose in your condition…’ He really was a most difficult person to like, even though it was now clear that he had been let into Teddy’s secret and had not struck Alex a mortal blow on first sight for getting his daughter in the family way.
‘No, sir,’ Alex picked up the challenge, ‘Time is against us as I expect my posting at any moment. Teddy’s religion is fundamental to her, but I am not a Catholic and it would take too long for me to convert. Equally, it would also be wrong for me to expect Teddy to renounce her faith and convert to mine. We are getting married at a registry office because we both want our child born in wedlock, but we intend that the church will bless our marriage at the very first opportunity – that, sir, is most important to us both.’
‘A fine speech, young man,’ her father said, ‘but are you not getting ahead of yourself? I do not believe you have asked my permission to marry my daughter.’
‘I did try, and although it’s not strictly necessary, I would be happier knowing that you were content and had granted your permission, so may I ask for it now?’
‘We have not always agreed, and you are an impudent young whippersnapper, but my daughter appears smitten with you, my wife seems to like you, and, as you say, Theodora is of an age that my permission is irrelevant, so I shall not stand in her way,’ he conceded grudgingly.
‘Not standing in her way is hardly the same as giving your blessing to our marriage,’ Alex persisted.
‘Yes, I give my permission and my blessing. I hope you bring my daughter more happiness than we have been able to. You were very courageous and kind to come and tell us about Toby, although they still have not released his body to us. I know that I am a difficult person, but that does not mean that I do not love my children and would do anything for them. You are not what I imagined for my daughter, but you appear an honourable man who wants to help his country in their hour of need, and I respect you for that. I do not know whether you will survive this war – many will not – but if you do, I have no doubt that you will do your best by Theodora, and that will satisfy me.’
Teddy was awestruck at this commendation; although delivered rigi
dly, it was clear that it was coming from her father’s heart, and she held her mother’s hand, squeezing it in the hope that she would not cry in front of her father. She almost succeeded.
‘I suppose I shall have to get my old uniform out and rid it of the smell of mothballs before the wedding,’ he decided, ‘I cannot be walking Theodora down the aisle reeking as though I’m rotting away!’
That’s when the dam burst, and Teddy flung her arms around her father in a show of affection that she had not demonstrated since her age was in single figures.
‘Mind you,’ her father continued, embarrassed by Teddy’s affection, ‘if you hurt my daughter, you will discover that my reputation for being a thoroughgoing bastard is well-deserved.’
Although it was said kindly, there was an edge of steel that was not lost on Alex. ‘And it would be merited,’ responded Alex formally.
They shook hands, and the interminable sherry was brought out in celebration.
A little while later, they left Teddy’s parents to their preparations. As they were walking down the Avenue, Teddy spoke for the first time since her father’s speech. ‘Well, I’ll be buggered!’ she expressed in a most unladylike manner, ‘I think he’s coming around to the idea!’
She smiled at Alex, and Alex smiled at her, and together they burst into laughter.
‘I meant to ask,’ Alex began, ‘Simon said something about your father being a hero?’
‘Oh, that old chestnut,’ Teddy responded. ‘It’s nothing, really. It was in the last war at the Battle of the Somme, when the army had to attack the German lines. Most of the regiments were wiped out or were forced to retreat because of the mud, but Daddy assumed command of his battalion of the Grenadier Guards as more-senior officers fell. He kept going and took the objective, and he held it for four days until he was relieved, although just about all of his men fell. Even though he was wounded, he remained in command and protected a young, injured subaltern from being bayoneted, by clubbing the German soldier to death with a rifle that he had picked up out of the mud. The subaltern was well connected, and the story became one of the few successes of the Somme. Daddy had to go to Buckingham Palace, and the King gave him a medal for bravery, but he never talks about it, and the loss of so many men affected him badly. He knows that if he had retreated and taken the battalion back, many lives would have been saved, but, to him, that would have been cowardice.
‘The army kept him on, and promotions came, but he has not seen active service since that time; in every job the army given him since, he has become more and more irascible, until they couldn’t stand it any longer and put him out to grass. He’s never forgiven them.’
‘It sounds as if he was a good soldier,’ Alex said.
‘He may have been, but he was never a good father.’
XXV
Once more, Alex telephoned Commander Jeffers’s office at Victoria the following morning and was again told that the investigators still had not returned from Hampshire. Miss Willoughby did say that they planned to see him the next day, and he should go to St Ermine’s Hotel at 11.00am.
Alex talked with Simon about the arrangements for the marriage, and Simon readily agreed that, come hell or high water, he would be there.
Alex reported a truncated version to Teddy, who was pleased that he would be occupied the following day, as she was planning to meet the dressmaker at Onslow Gardens with Alex’s mother. She told him that she had hoped her flatmate, Mary Carruthers, whom Alex had never met, might have agreed to be her bridesmaid, but she had just heard that Mary would not be able to make the wedding as she was extremely busy in Liverpool and her commanding officer could not spare her. Although they had only met once, Teddy wondered whether Simon’s fiancée, Cordelia, might step in.
‘I only really ever kept in touch with Mary from school. Most of the others were bitches, so I’d rather not have any bridesmaids than ask the likes of Daphne Fox-Bruton!’ she said with vehemence.
‘I expect I shall see Simon tomorrow, so I will ask,’ agreed Alex.
‘Please do,’ Teddy responded, ‘She seemed nice, so I hope she can!’
*
A little later that morning, they caught the Underground railway to Piccadilly Circus and walked to Feldman’s, where the younger welcomed them as if they were family and, after having made sure that they were seated comfortably, he disappeared through the door. Eventually, he returned with his father, who was carrying two velvet pouches reverently.
The younger Mr Feldman explained, ‘My father wanted to congratulate you himself.’
The old man nodded and sat down, inviting Teddy and Alex to sit also. ‘This has been a challenge,’ he began in stilted English, ‘I want rings to be just right, and it not easy so to make.’
He took Teddy’s ring from one of the pouches. ‘This ring is solid from the same platinum as your engagement ring, so it is a perfect match. I make your rings unique by fusing gold in them.’
Both Teddy and Alex were speechless at the sheer beauty of the ring.
Mr Feldman the elder continued, ‘I took the liberty of engraving your initials on inner.’
Teddy looked inside, and saw something that she didn’t fully understand so she passed it to Alex
He explained, ‘“ΑγΤ” is the Russian Cyrillic for “A and T”.’
In the other ring, similarly fashioned, Mr Feldman had reversed the letters.
‘They are magnificent,’ Teddy said, and the old man smiled with pleasure and embarrassment. ‘Thank you so very, very much. If you are able, please come to our marriage on Thursday in Chelsea. The beauty of your craftsmanship will make our day very special.’
The old man was overcome. ‘I am unsure; it depends.’ He saw the crestfallen look on Teddy’s face. ‘But I would like to; at my age, I go to funerals more than weddings!’
Teddy smiled and promised to put an invitation in the post to him.
The rings were polished, placed in leather boxes, and one handed to Alex and the other to Teddy, each having the other’s ring. They shook hands with both the young and the old Mr Feldman, and they left the shop as if floating on a cloud.
*
Alex and Teddy waited for a bus to take them to Onslow Gardens. The first bus that came was the one that took them down the Fulham Road, and, from their seats on the lower deck, they watched the shops as the bus drove by. Teddy saw several that took her interest, and she made a mental note to suggest to Alex’s mother that they might like to go shopping there one day.
Just past the hospital, the bus slowed down, and, at the junction with Selwood Terrace, they jumped off the rear platform. Alex caught Teddy in case she stumbled and fell, but there was no need, although he took the opportunity to kiss her as he placed her on the pavement. They walked arm in arm and reached Alex’s family home eventually, where they noticed that his uncle’s Rolls-Royce was parked outside, with an unfamiliar chauffeur sitting in the driver’s seat.
Alex let himself into the house and called his mother that he was home. He and Teddy went throughout into the drawing room.
His mother, on entering the drawing room, announced that Uncle Walter had come to tell her that contracts had exchanged on the house in Gloucestershire and it was already empty, so they could move whenever they wanted.
‘Not before Thursday.’ Teddy was firm.
His mother guessed the reason as Teddy’s face had burst into a radiant smile. ‘What time?’ she demanded.
‘At 3.30pm,’ Teddy said, ‘so I hope the dressmaker is quick!’
‘She will be as quick as we can afford,’ Alex’s mother replied philosophically. ‘If she cannot make the dress in time, we will find a dressmaker who can.’
Alex had always been amazed at his mother’s blind faith in the power of cash, which was typical of the Russian aristocracy, but he also knew that his mother had sold much of her jewellery to survive.
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The maid served Russian chai, and Alex was surprised that Teddy was enjoying drinking this concoction; as for his taste, Alex far preferred tea, although with lemon and not milk.
‘We need to look at the new house,’ said Uncle Walter, ‘It is a little basic for my tastes at the moment and it needs decorating. I am sure that your mother and Teddy will soon knock it into shape while I am in London. Perhaps before you leave, you might get a chance to visit? There is an old inn in the nearby town that lets rooms by the night; perhaps it might suffice for your honeymoon?’
‘There are a few things that I have to deal with in London before I get posted,’ Alex said, ‘but if it is possible, then it would be very nice to see where Teddy and Mama will be staying.’
They chatted for about an hour, and the maid brought neatly cut sandwiches and more chai.
‘London is getting so very expensive,’ Alex’s mother remarked. ‘It is getting impossible to find anything in the shops! It will be nice to go to the country and be able to grow our own produce as we did back home.’
Alex was confident that his mother had never undertaken any form of gardening work personally; it was far more likely that her family estate employed a regiment of gardeners to ensure that the household was never short of fresh produce. He wondered how she would adapt.
*
The next morning, Alex dressed in a sombrely grey and thoroughly conservative three-piece suit, with a plain, white shirt and his “Old Lassiterians” tie to complete the ensemble. He had decided against his uniform, purely on the principle that it still displayed his former rank; besides, discretion was necessary, he reasoned. When fully dressed, he moved silently around the bedroom, trying not to disturb the sleeping Teddy, and he wrote a brief note for her and left it on her dressing table before gently kissing her forehead. Teddy roused and moved her head so that she could kiss his lips.
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