by Lily Baxter
‘If you say so, miss. But I suggest you get yourself off home. Things will seem better in the morning.’ He stood with his thumbs tucked in his belt and his feet planted squarely apart, watching her.
She backed away towards the street where she had parked Josie’s car. ‘Yes, you’re right, officer. I’m going home.’
Poor man, she thought as she hurried towards the spot where she had parked the car, he really thought I was going to jump.
‘I’ve brought you a cup of tea, Meg.’
Meg screwed her face against the light and squinted at the clock on her bedside table. ‘Oh, my God. I’ve overslept. Why didn’t you wake me earlier?’
Josie put the tea tray on the table and smiled. ‘Don’t worry. You’ve plenty of time to get ready. The ceremony isn’t until eleven thirty. I’ve run your bath, so have a nice long soak.’
Meg sat up and stretched. ‘I ought to be rushing around looking after you, you’re the bride.’
‘Never mind that. I’m all ready except for putting on my dress.’ Josie headed for the door but she paused, looking anxious. ‘You will be all right, won’t you, darling?’
‘Don’t worry about me. This is your day.’
‘The taxi will be here at ten past eleven.’
‘I’ll be ready in time.’
Meg had to scrub her skin with a loofah and a pumice stone to get rid of the last traces of oil on her hands and arms, but less than an hour later, she was combing her hair into a shining pageboy bob and adding a touch of rose pink lipstick to her pale lips.
‘Meg. Are you ready?’ Josie’s voice floated up from the hall.
‘Coming.’ Meg snatched up the confection of turquoise silk and feathers. The colour was a perfect match to her fashionable gown, which fitted tightly at the waist and then flared out in an elegant swirl to mid-calf length. She was pinning the hat to her head as she ran downstairs.
‘Walter’s gone on ahead,’ Josie said, struggling to set her own hat at the correct angle and looking to Meg for help.
Meg adjusted it with a twitch of her fingers and handed Josie her bouquet of white lilies and trailing stephanotis. ‘You look gorgeous.’
‘Oh God. I’m so nervous.’
‘You’ll be fine. You look absolutely wonderful, Josie. Like a young girl.’
‘Darling, I feel ridiculous. Everyone will say I’m cradle-snatching.’
‘Don’t talk rot. Walter is a mature man who’s lived through all the horrors of war and is coping bravely with his disability, which you helped him to conquer. And anyway, he’s dotty about you.’
Josie began to pace the room. ‘I can’t do it, Meg. The family will never speak to me again, and Walter’s parents are going to be so furious with him for going behind their backs.’
Meg ran to the window as she heard the sound of a car pulling up outside. ‘The taxi’s here.’
‘I can’t do it. You’ll have to go and tell Walter.’
‘I’m not telling Walter anything of the sort.’ She moved swiftly to Josie’s side and gave her a hug. ‘You’ll be fine. Everything will be absolutely wonderful.’
They were only a couple of minutes late arriving at the register office. Walter was already seated in one of the red plush chairs and he stood up as Josie entered the room. Meg came to a sudden halt as she recognised the man standing at his side. Looking incredibly nervous and unforgivably handsome, Rayner met her eyes with an attempt at a smile.
She would have bolted back into the vestibule but the registrar, apparently unaware of any undercurrents, closed the door firmly and went to his position behind the desk. ‘I have another wedding in twenty minutes,’ he said apologetically. ‘I don’t want to rush the proceedings, but I suggest we begin straight away.’
Meg felt her legs about to give way beneath her and sank onto the seat beside Josie, turning her face resolutely away so that she would not have to look at Rayner. She barely heard the words of the short ceremony. She refused to look at him when they signed their names as witnesses and she moved away hastily, making for the door.
They emerged from the gloom of the vestibule into the dazzling sunshine outside. Another wedding party had just arrived and this time there seemed to be dozens of guests, all dressed in their best and chattering excitedly. Walter held on to Josie’s arm as they edged through the crowd to where their taxi was waiting.
Rayner was at her side and Meg stole a glance at him. ‘What are you doing here?’ she murmured in an undertone.
‘Walter asked me to be a witness.’
‘Well, you’ve done your bit. I hope you’re not thinking of coming in the taxi with us.’
Walter handed Josie into the back seat of the taxi and he turned to them with a warning frown. ‘Don’t spoil Josie’s day.’
Meg opened her mouth to protest, but she saw Josie’s anxious face peering out of the window and she knew she was trapped.
‘Sit next to Josie,’ Walter said, giving her a gentle nudge towards the open door. ‘I’ll find it easier to cope in the front seat.’
It was a waking nightmare for Meg as she sat between Josie and Rayner. The cloying perfume of the lilies could not blot out the sensual scent of the man, and it plunged her into a maelstrom of emotion. She could feel the warmth of his thigh burning into her flesh but his body was stiff and tense. They might as well have been total strangers.
The taxi ride only lasted a few minutes but to Meg it seemed like an eternity. When they decanted themselves onto the pavement outside the Mitre Hotel, she was tempted to walk away, but she knew that such an action would ruin Josie’s day and that was unthinkable. Bracing her shoulders, Meg followed the bride and groom into the hotel, walking just a little ahead of Rayner but deeply conscious of his presence. Inwardly she seethed with indignation and bewilderment. She could not understand why he had agreed to be Walter’s best man when he knew that she would be present at the wedding. It seemed like a cruel joke in which they had all colluded, but Josie was never knowingly unkind and Walter would cross the street rather than have an argument with anyone. Puzzled, hurt and angry, Meg followed silently as the maître d’hôtel led them through the crowded restaurant to a table in a quiet corner, which was fragrant with the scent from the white lilies and roses that surrounded a delicately iced wedding cake.
As they took their seats, Meg noticed that there were two more places set at the table and she was just trying to work this out when Rayner and Walter rose to their feet. She twisted round in her chair and almost fell off it as she saw Luiza walking towards them with a beaming smile on her lovely face. ‘Rayner, we’re late and it’s all my fault.’ On seeing Meg she threw up her hands with a throaty chuckle. ‘But I know you. You are the kind lady who helped me choose the lovely gowns.’
Meg leapt to her feet but Rayner slipped his arm around her shoulders before she had a chance to speak. ‘Meg, may I introduce my cousin Georg and his wife Luiza.’
Stunned and barely taking in the information, Meg nodded and found herself automatically chanting ‘How do you do’ in a prim little voice that sounded as if it came from someone else.
Georg grasped Meg’s hand in a grip that almost welded her fingers together, and his Nordic blue eyes were disturbingly similar to Rayner’s. ‘This is a pleasure, Meg. We have heard so much about you.’
She found herself returning his smile. She was saved from replying by the soft hiss of a champagne cork leaving the bottle, and the waiter began to fill their glasses. There was nothing she could do without drawing attention to herself. She sat down, and Rayner took his seat next to her.
Walter stood up and raised his glass. ‘Here’s to my beautiful bride and to you all for joining us on this wonderful day.’
‘This is so exciting,’ Luiza said happily. ‘Georg and I were married just two weeks ago. This is our honeymoon, and now we are here to share your wedding day. I hope you will be as happy as we are, Josie and Walter.’
Meg turned her head to look Rayner fully in the face for the first t
ime. ‘Three on a honeymoon. How Continental.’
‘Meg.’ Josie cast her an agonised glance.
‘Continental?’ Luiza frowned and then laughed. ‘You are joking, of course. It is the English sense of humour.’
‘It is a business trip really,’ Georg said earnestly. ‘We are going to London. We have new markets to open up for our coffee. It was a practical solution, yes?’
‘Very practical.’ Meg gave Rayner what she hoped was a withering look. He had put her in an invidious position and she was not ready to forgive him yet, maybe ever. She was uncomfortably aware that people were staring at them. The sound of German accents must inevitably be unwelcome and out of place in a quiet Oxford hotel. She could see by the covert looks from people at the adjoining table that feelings were still running high after the horrors of the war. She was even more concerned when Rayner stood up, pushing his chair back. ‘Excuse us for a moment. There are one or two things I have to say to Meg that won’t wait.’ He seized her by the wrist and before she had a chance to protest she found herself being propelled through the maze of chairs and tables. With her nerves already on edge, she was even more agitated by the sudden silence in the room as people watched them leave the restaurant. ‘What are you doing?’ she hissed. ‘We can’t just walk out before the meal has even started.’
‘They will understand.’ He thrust a door open and ushered her into the hotel lounge. The room was empty except for an elderly couple seated in armchairs by the window drinking coffee and studying the daily papers. Rayner pushed Meg onto the nearest sofa and sat down beside her, grasping both her hands so that she would have had to fight to free herself. ‘I’ve had enough of this. You are going to listen to me whether you like it or not.’
‘How dare you drag me away from the table and how dare you assume that I want to listen to what you have to say?’ She clenched her hands into fists but his fingers held her like bands of steel. A quick glance at the determined set of his jaw was enough to convince her that a struggle would look undignified, and it would be a waste of time.
‘Whatever you’re thinking of me is entirely wrong. I tried to contact you. I wrote you dozens of letters and never received a reply. I wrote to Walter and to David asking them to explain things to you, but it seems they got it all wrong.’
Meg met his eyes reluctantly and she knew that he was telling the truth, but all the pain of the last few months had etched itself into her soul. Part of her wanted to believe him while the other half of her brain warned her to be wary. ‘I didn’t receive your letters. My mother destroyed them.’
‘I knew there had to be a good reason why you didn’t reply.’
‘Then why didn’t you take your honeymooners to Guernsey? You couldn’t have known that I was in Oxford.’
‘I telephoned your home when we arrived in England. Gerald told me you were here.’
‘You could have phoned Josie’s house.’
‘I did, several times, but there was no answer, and when I did get hold of Walter you wouldn’t speak to me.’
Meg struggled with the logic of all this. She wanted to stay angry, but she felt herself slipping back under his old magic spell no matter how hard she fought against it. ‘Why did you send Luiza to Josie’s shop? What was I supposed to think?’
He released his grip on her wrists and slid his hands up her bare forearms to hold her by the shoulders. His eyes softened and his lips curved into his charming, crooked smile. ‘You thought she was my wife?’
‘Of course I did, you fool. Luiza turns up in the shop and says she is Mrs Weiss and she mentions you by name. What else was I supposed to think?’
‘There never has been and never will be anyone else for me but you, my dearest Meg. How could you imagine that I would fall out of love with you and marry someone else in such a short space of time?’
‘Luiza is gorgeous.’
‘Yes, and my cousin adores her but she is not you. I love you and only you.’ He cupped her face in his hands and punctuated his words with swift, hard kisses that forced her lips open and left her desperate for more.
‘But you sent her to Josie’s boutique to buy a dress like the one I wore all those years ago. What was that all about?’
‘I had no idea then that Josie owned the shop. As I recall it was Madame Elizabeth’s.’
‘And the dress?’
‘Come with me.’ He stood up and helped Meg to her feet. Holding her hand, he led her through the lounge, into the foyer and up the ancient staircase to the first floor. Walking on ahead through the narrow passage with its crazily sloping floor, he stopped outside a room and unlocked the door.
Meg hesitated on the threshold, taking in the quaint room with its latticed windows, chintz curtains and four-poster bed.
‘Come in, please.’ Rayner opened the wardrobe and lifted out a box that she instantly recognised. He thrust it into her hands. ‘Take a look inside.’
She lifted the lid but already she knew that it contained the gown that she herself had packed in layers of white tissue paper. She raised her head. ‘The dress?’
Rayner nodded. ‘I asked Luiza to find me a golden gown just like the one you wore to the May Ball.’
She lifted the shimmering garment from its wrappings and held it against her. Suddenly her eyes were full of tears. ‘It fitted Luiza, but I can’t wear this. I’m too thin.’
He swept her into his arms, crushing the dress between them. His mouth sought hers in a hot, ruthlessly demanding and passionate kiss that swept Meg into a dizzying spiral of delight and the dawning of happiness.
‘It was just a token,’ he said, looking deep into her eyes. ‘A reminder of how we met. Wear it for me now, Meg.’
She laughed shakily. If he let her go she had no doubt that her knees would buckle beneath her. ‘It would fall off. I haven’t got Luiza’s curves.’
He nuzzled her neck. ‘You’re perfect as you are. I don’t mind if it falls to the floor. I want you desperately, Meg.’
She felt his hot breath at the base of her neck and the thrill of his lips as they moved hungrily down to the swell of her breasts where her buttons had somehow come undone. The four-poster bed was only inches away and her head swam treacherously as her body cried out for him.
‘We mustn’t. This is madness.’
‘Do you want me to stop?’
‘No, but we can’t do this to Josie and Walter. It’s their big day. We have to return to the dining room.’
‘You can’t go down to the restaurant like that.’ Rayner grinned and began to button up her dress. ‘What would they think if they saw us now?’ he added softly.
She laughed and wriggled free. ‘We must go back to the party, or I’ll never be able to look Josie in the eye again.’
‘All right. If you insist, but we’ll continue this conversation later.’
When the last drop of champagne had been drunk and everyone had kissed the bride and shaken Walter’s hand until he complained that it was in danger of falling off, they stood on the pavement outside the hotel while the bride and groom prepared to climb into the taxi that would take them to the station. Josie flung her arms around Meg. ‘I’m glad it’s worked out for you, darling. But do think carefully before you commit yourself to a man who was once the enemy.’
‘It’s not like that,’ Meg said softly. ‘I love him, and I’ve always loved him.’
Josie kissed her on the cheek. ‘Follow your heart then, Meg.’
Walter took Josie by the hand. ‘Come along, Mrs Howe. We’ve got a train to catch.’ He helped her into the waiting cab. ‘Good luck, old boy,’ he said, addressing himself to Rayner, who was standing close behind Meg. ‘Take care of her; she’s a wonderful girl.’
‘I know that very well,’ Rayner said, smiling.
‘What a happy day this has turned out to be.’ Luiza wiped her eyes on a handkerchief, waving frantically as the taxi drove off.
Rayner had his arm firmly clasped around Meg’s waist. ‘It’s not over yet.’
She dug him in the ribs as Georg cast them a puzzled glance.
‘We are going sightseeing,’ Luiza said. ‘Will you join us?’
‘No, thanks. You two need time on your own,’ Rayner said gently. ‘And we have a long-standing appointment to keep, haven’t we, Meg?’
They walked slowly, hand in hand, along the High Street and down St Aldate’s towards Folly Bridge.
Meg stopped in the middle, gazing into the water below. ‘Why didn’t you come last night?’
He took her hands in his and kissed them. ‘But I did. I waited for an hour. Where were you?’
Looking into his eyes she wondered how she could ever have thought they were cold. They were like blue sapphires, filled with light and warm with love. She threw back her head and laughed. ‘Josie’s car had a puncture. It took me an hour to change the wheel, and then I ran here covered in oil and dirt but there was no sign of you. I almost got arrested for attempted suicide.’
It was Rayner’s turn to laugh now, and Meg thought it was the most wonderful sound she had ever heard. There had been so little opportunity or reason for laughter during the war and now everything was so different; so wonderful.
‘We’re blocking the footpath,’ Rayner said, taking her by the hand and starting back the way they had just come. ‘There are two things I want to do urgently.’
‘What?’ Meg had to raise her voice to make herself heard above the traffic noise. ‘What two things?’
He stopped and wrapped his arms around her. ‘First we must find a jeweller’s shop and I will buy you the biggest diamond engagement ring they have in stock.’
‘But I don’t like diamonds,’ Meg protested, chuckling. ‘And you haven’t asked me to marry you yet.’
‘All right, then.’ Rayner went down on one knee in the middle of the pavement. ‘Marguerite Colivet, I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?’
Someone applauded and passers-by stopped to watch them, openly amused. It seemed to Meg then that the old saying was true. All the world loves a lover, and whatever problems the future might hold their feelings for each other would transcend them all.