(Part 01)
Twenty eight year old Matthew Burnham lives alone in the village of Mornington-By-Mere which is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which form the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside where Matthew lived in a small two bedroom cottage in the row of West Gate Cottages on the banks of the River Brooke.
He had only lived there for around 9 months when he moved there from Purplemere.
Matthew made the move because the company he worked for, Bespoke Furniture, had decided to up sticks, so he decided to pick up sticks along with them because it was a well-paid job and he was good at it, and he enjoyed working with his hands.
It was on Wednesday morning in between Christmas and New Year when the phone rang and when he viewed the caller ID he could see it was his mum.
“Hi mum” he said
“Hello Matthew darling, I can’t talk long, I have another favour to ask of you”
“Ok ask away” he said
“Could Angela stay with you again for a couple of nights before she leaves for the missions?”
Angela was an old family friend, she was actually the daughter of his mum’s best friend Sharon and she was also his first crush and she was going to be staying under his roof again.
Angela was six years older than him and he was smitten with her from the very first moment he saw her but nothing ever happened, apart from a kiss, one single solitary kiss, a kiss that blew his mind.
She had stayed with him when she first arrived in the country at the end of November when their unrequited love was finally made manifest.
So yes Angela could most certainly stay for a couple of nights under his roof.
His mum told him that Angela would be arriving with him some time that afternoon so he went off and made up the spare bed for her although he hoped she wouldn’t be needing it.
Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse with heavy snow moving across the country from the east.
So as he sat in his house watching the clock Matthew had no way of knowing exactly where Angela was.
Because he didn’t know exactly where she was coming from he couldn’t ascertain whether or not she would be effected by the snow, and he didn’t even have a phone number to contact her on.
When he began to get concerned Matthew phoned his mum, it was about seven o’clock by then, and she did have a phone number for Angela but all she could do was leave a voice mail as she wasn’t picking up.
(Part 02)
In the month since Matthew heard Angela’s blessed declaration of love, words that he lad longed to hear for 12 long years and he made love with her, he had thought of nothing else.
She was literally all he could think of during every waking moment and every dream filled night.
He just hope and prayed that he had had the same effect on her as she had on him.
Angela said it was love but in their case absence may not have made the heart grow fonder.
About an hour after Matthew had spoken with his mum regarding Angela’s current location he had a call from Lily Mumford’s brother to say that Lily and Angela were stuck on the Pepperstock Express Way in heavy snow and would get to him just as soon as they possibly could.
They finally arrived a little after eleven o’clock with the snow falling fast again.
Due to the lateness of the hour and the treacherous road conditions he insisted that Lily stay the night as well, which meant sadly that he wouldn’t be having the kind of reunion with Angela that he had been anticipating.
Matthew left them both in the kitchen making a hot drink while he went upstairs to get the spare duvet.
Angela could sleep in his bed, alone unfortunately, and Lily could sleep in the spare room while he would sleep on the sofa.
Both Angela and Lily protested and volunteered to take the sofa in his stead but Matthew stood his ground.
Matthew found it more than a little frustrating having the expectancy all day of being reunited, however briefly, with the love of his life, for it only to be denied by the vagaries of the British winter weather and his generosity of spirit.
It was the only thing to do though so he consoled himself with that fact.
Matthew had a very disturbed night’s sleep, partly because of the uncomfortable sofa but partly because of the vivid dreams about Angela.
As a consequence he awoke early the next morning un-rested and as stiff as a board so he decided to get up and have a shower in an attempt to liven himself up, but although he felt clean and fresh afterwards it merely masked his fatigue.
So he slipped on his dressing gown and went downstairs and was surprised to find Lily Mumford sitting at the kitchen table nursing a mug of coffee.
“Morning” he said far more brightly than he felt “Sleep well?”
“Good morning Matthew, yes very well thank you” she replied formally before continuing
“I hope it was ok, but I made myself breakfast”
“Yes of course it was” he replied as he looked out the window.
“It’s stopped snowing then?” he observed
“Yes” she replied, “I’m going to make a move shortly, get while the going is good as it were”
And she smiled broadly after her statement, Matt didn’t know if it was because he was feeling so washed out or not but Lily certainly appeared to be a much brighter person than he was expecting compared to the Ms. Frosty knickers that he met the last time she was in his home.
(Part 03)
While Lily Mumford was outside defrosting her Morris Minor he sat at the kitchen table drinking a coffee and he was so tired that it didn’t even dawned on him what the significance of Lily’s early departure was.
After about twenty minutes Lily came back inside after clearing the snow off the car and warming up the engine.
“I won’t disturb Angela” she said
“She could use the rest”
“Good idea” he agreed
“Well I will see you on Saturday Matthew” she said “Bless you for your kindness”
Matthew watched the Morris Minor drive away and then switched on the kettle again.
He opened the cupboard and took out a second mug and then stopped as he remembered Lily’s parting words about not disturbing Angela but then he thought.
“Why not?”
So he put his mug in the sink, locked the door and ascended the stairs.
Matthew gently opened the bedroom door and tiptoed inside and he could see the shape of her in his bed and he could see glimpses of her blue and white pajamas above the duvet.
He slipped off his dressing gown and let it drop to the floor and then he slipped under the duvet and cuddled up close to her.
Angela was on her side with her back to him and Matt leant over her and kissed her lips but got no response so he put his arm around her and snuggled up to her warm body so close he was like her second skin and Angela murmured softly in response.
He woke up about an hour later and Angela was facing him.
“Hello” she said “I thought you would never get here”
“Hey” he replied “I got here as soon as I could”
“I was expecting you would come and see me last night” she said, “Why didn’t you by the way?”
“I didn’t think you’d want me to with Lily in the house just in case she heard us,” he replied
“You didn’t need to worry” Angela added, “She’s a bit deaf and she sleeps like the dead”
“Oh well never mind I got here eventually,” he said
“Mmmmm” Angela replied and kissed him
After making love they slept again and when they awoke they spent the rest of the day in each other’s company.
They would have been the first to admit that it was fairly mundane, Angela did her washing and ironing while he pottered around doing the housework.
However the mundanity of the day was more than compensated for by the intimate nature of their nights.
She wanted to make the most of the time they had together as well as packing for the journey, her time with him was almost up and when Angela left his house on the morning of the 30th of December and she travelled to China he would probably never see her again.
But she left an indelible impression on him so as they lay in each other’s arms on that morning together he said
“Don’t go”
“I have to go” she replied sadly “You know that”
“But I love you Angela” he said and she gasped
“And I love you too”
“Then don’t go”
(Part 04)
“But I love you Angela” he said and she gasped
“And I love you too”
“Then don’t go”
“But I have to” she said “it’s my life’s work”
“I know that” he replied “But we belong together”
Angela just lay there silently and grasped his hand in hers and put it to her lips and kissed it.
“I know you feel the same” he said “So if you can’t stay here with me then I’ll just have to come to you”
Angela looked up at him through tear filled eyes and said
“Do you mean you’ll come and visit me?”
“No I mean I will come and live with you” he said “as your husband”
“What?” she asked as she wiped away the tears from her now saucer sized eyes.
“I want to marry you and go to the missions with you” he asked and his question was met with a disbelieving silence.
“Or” he continued “I could just make it a holiday”
“No, no” she snapped “married…husband…China”
“I’m confused, does that mean you want to marry me?” he teased her
“Yes, yes, yes” she squealed “Yes please”
She wrapped herself around him like a serpent and showered him with kisses.
“Then we need to make some calls” he said
Matthew wanted them to be married before they left for the missions so there were a considerable number of calls to be made and favours to be asked and arms to be twisted.
The benefit of being a veteran missionary held in high regard in the Christian church was that when favours were requested they were normally granted.
So a special license was granted and after a brief conversation with Reverend Peter Cockcroft he agreed to marry them at St Winifred’s on New Year’s Day.
It did mean that they could no longer live under the same roof unchaperoned so his sister Fiona was sent to fill the roll and on New Year’s Eve she spent the night at the Vicarage with the Cockcroft’s.
The morning began with a frosty glaze decorating the rooftops and lightly dusting the evergreens and as the bells rang out to celebrate the birth of the New Year the joyous faithful arrived under a clear blue sky.
As usual St Winifred’s was well attended for the New Year’s Day service despite the bitter cold.
But that day it was even more so because of the added attraction of a New Year’s Day wedding.
It was a most glorious morning and Matthews’s spirits were high and as he stood at the front of the church with the sun streaming through the stained glass his mother tapped him on the shoulder and whispered
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“I have never been more sure of anything in my life” he replied and then the music started.
He could not turn around, he dare not turn around, in case he broke the spell so he just stared straight ahead.
Until the moment she was stood beside him and he turned to look at his beautiful angel wearing her mother’s wedding dress and looking even more beautiful than he could have imagined.
After they left the church there was no time for a wedding breakfast and so they had a glass of Champaign at the Old Mill Inn before saying their goodbyes and getting in Lily Mumford’s Morris Minor and she drove them straight to the airport for their new life together in China.
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