It was the day
after her birthday when Olivia finished getting ready and left her cottage to
drive to the village.
She parked her
car in the surgery car park and walked down the road to the vicarage.
Like a secret
agent in the night she looked around and knocked on the door and fingered the
crucifix he had presented too her for her birthday.
She saw the
shadow through the glass and the door opened.
“Hi Ben” she said
and smiled
“Olivia” he
responded “Come in”
She stepped
inside and the moment the door closed they were in each other’s arms.
Olivia stayed the
night at the Vicarage and left the next morning at cock’s crow.
Leaving very
furtively in the half-light but there had been no impropriety, not really, a
great deal of talking interspersed with an equal amount of kissing and some
moderate petting.
It could have
been more, they both wanted it to be more but they restrained themselves.
After all he was the Vicar
and they were in the Vicarage.
They saw as much of each other as possible over the following week and a
half, that is as much as time and opportunity would permit, which wasn’t as
much as they would have liked.
On Sunday the first of June
Claire Andrews had invited her new boyfriend Peter Lutchford and his sister
Amanda to the cottage in the evening for wine and nibbles.
Claire left home early on
Sunday morning to do some shopping and got side tracked by a patient while she
was out so when she returned home she quickly threw nibbles in bowls and put some
beer and wine in the fridge.
Olivia made some dips and
party bites and was on the way out of her cottage loaded up when she spotted Eva
and Siti.
“Hello you two” she said
“here grab hold of those Eva”
She loaded Eva up and took
Siti away to get more then they all went into Claire’s.
“I found these two skulking
about” she said “so I brought them along”
Peter and Amanda arrived
shortly afterwards and so after introductions they all repaired to the patio.
It was a pleasant enough
gathering but both Claire and Peter were to all intents and purposes alone and Olivia
would have liked to have been with Ben.
He couldn’t be with her at
the party, firstly because it was Sunday and he always had a busy day Sunday,
and secondly because no one knew about them.
Peter and Claire were trying
to arrange something for the coming week but the only day Peter was free was
Friday and Claire was working.
“Olivia!” she called
“Oh you’ve noticed we’re here
then” she said and they all laughed except Claire and Peter who didn’t
understand the joke
“I’m taking Friday off”
Claire said authoritatively
“Good it’s about time” Liv
replied
“Is that ok?” Claire asked
feeling guilty
“When did you last have a day
off?” Olivia asked
“January” she said
“Well there’s your answer”
Olivia said
All throughout June she carried on with choir practice and helping Ben
with the parochial work and they snatched what precious minutes they could find
to be alone.
They were both desperate to spend more time together but it didn’t seem
possible.
So by the end of the month she had made a decision.
It was the thirtieth of the month when she knocked on Claire’s front door
before work.
“Hi Liv” she said
“Hey Claire can I come in a minute, I have something to tell you” she
said
“Sure” Claire replied definitely fearing the worst
“The thing is” she began
“What?” Claire said with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach
“I’m dating the Vicar” she blurted out
“Thank God” Claire said and laughed “I thought you were going to leave”
“What do you think?” she asked ignoring Claire’s comment
“I think I couldn’t be happier” Claire said and kissed her
Then as Olivia was going out the door she stopped and asked
“Why would I be leaving?”
“It was just the way you said it” Claire said and laughed
Having made her relationship with Ben public, Olivia thought it would
give them more time together, but her plan backfired and she inadvertently made
matters worse rather than better.
They actually had less time alone together because their every move was
now under even greater scrutiny, it made July a very tortuous month indeed.
Everything came to a head after a parish council meeting when they were
at one end of the hall talking and everyone else was at the other end watching
them like hawks.
“This is ridiculous” Olivia whispered “I want to kiss you but I can’t”
Ben agreed
“We can’t even hold hands for God’s sake” she said then looked up and
added “sorry God”
“I don’t know what the solution is” Ben said
“You will just have to make an honest woman of me” Olivia said in a
whisper “and then we can see each other whenever we want”
“Is that a proposal?” He asked
“If you’ll have me”
“Of course I’ll have you” Ben replied and then he kissed her.
At the other end of the room, there were raised eyebrows and rumblings
so Ben turned around and said loudly
“We are engaged”
There were copious congratulatory hugs and handshakes and even the
appearance, from where Ben didn’t know, of a bottle of sherry.
The announcement of their engagement was rewarded by a slightly more
prolonged period of privacy on the vicarage doorstep in which they could
properly kiss.
“Are you sure about this?” Ben asked
“Certain sure” she replied “Are you not?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life” he said and they
kissed again “Apart from God obviously”
Olivia got in her car and gave Ben one final wave and drove off.
She parked her car outside her cottage and then went to knock on Claire’s
door
“Hey Claire I have something else to tell you” she said
“Sure” Claire replied definitely fearing the worst this time “are you
sure you’re not leaving?”
“No I’m definitely not leaving” Olivia said with a smile “What is your
obsession with me leaving?”
“Nothing Hun” Claire said “Carry on”
“I’m engaged”
“You’re what?” Claire said unsure of what she had heard
“I’m engaged to the Vicar” she blurted
“Good God woman you work fast” Claire said and laughed before the two
friends hugged
“I’m so pleased” Claire said and then they both cried
Two days later Claire and Olivia went on an all-day shopping trip to
Abbottsford including a long leisurely lunch in the Phoenix Centre.
The lunch was to celebrate Liv’s engagement and the shopping trip was
for them both to buy wedding outfits.
Not for her nuptials but for the wedding of a mutual friend that they
were attending a couple of weeks later.
They had a wonderful girlie day out, something they hadn’t done for an
age and both of them found perfect outfits complete with hats and Olivia saw
something that would serve for another occasion.
A week later Liv and Ben were having a pub lunch together at the Foresters in Shallowfield, when she asked
“Can you get any time off?”
“I have a week off next month” he replied “I’m booked to go to a retreat
in Pepperstock”
“So what happens to the St Mary’s?” she asked
“The Bishop has assigned a locum in my absence”
“So he could marry us then?” liv suggested
“Yes and no” he replied unhelpfully
“I don’t like the sound of the no part” Liv said
“He can marry us of course but the church is booked right through until
September next year, it’s a very popular church” Ben explained “we would have
to book”
“I would have liked to have been married in your church”
She mused “and I don’t want to get married in a registry office”
“I don’t know what else to suggest” Ben said “We need help I think”
“I am the Queen of organization” Olivia said “I am the organizer extraordinaire,
if I can’t find a solution nobody can”
As they were walking back to the vicarage she asked
“Is Olwen’s chapel on consecrated ground?”
“Yes” he said
“Well we wouldn’t need to book there” she suggested
Olwen was an Anglo Saxon Lady who was one of the early converts to
Christianity however her pagan husband’s tribe would not accept the new faith
and she was forced to worship secretly in the forest.
Her chapel was in actually just an assortment of stones on the forest
floor arranged around a granite altar stone in a woodland clearing which had
been rediscovered early in Queen Victoria’s reign and had been lovingly
maintained ever since by a local society.
“We’ll have to consult the society” Ben said
As luck would have it the society was led by St Mary’s Church Warden Daniel Travers who lived at South View on Teardrop Lake.
“We wouldn’t need to book, but we would still need a Vicar and I don’t
know if I can get anyone to perform the service at such short notice” Ben said
Olivia wracked her brain but no solution was forth coming.
Three weeks into August bright and early on Saturday morning Claire and
Olivia set off when Evangeline left a warm bed and a hot girlfriend to drive
them to the station.
They were travelling back to Bushy Down for the wedding at St Lucy’s
Church of their friends Harry Beaumont and Pandora Parkinson-Brown.
Pandy was only able to marry in church by virtue of the fact her husband
died of a heart attack before she could divorce him.
Ben couldn’t accompany Olivia as he was already attending three weddings
that day and Claire’s boyfriend Peter was working on location.
It was not a direct journey but they thought the train would be more
relaxing than driving.
They got the slow train from Shallowfield to Abbottsford then a fast
train to Kiddingstone and then another slow one to Bushy Down.
When they arrived in the village they paused as they left the station
and took in the view that was so familiar view to them.
Olivia liked Bushy Down, she always had, and she had some very happy
memories there and some sad ones too and quite a few dirty ones thanks to the
local lothario, Simon Fisher.
They looked across the car park to the general store, once called Mahajak’s after the widow’s old
husband Omid, now named Zunguzah’s after her new one, Alois.
Olivia looked at Claire
and smiled and then they both walked to the Cross Keys where they were going to
get changed and spend the night after the reception.
Eric Wilson was still the Landlord and his wife Carol still ran the
B&B.
The moment they
walked through the door they were warmly welcomed and it was like they had
never been away.
After a typical
Cross Keys lunch and some congenial conversation Carol settled them into their
rooms so they could get changed for the wedding.
The Church was more
than half full by the time Claire and Olivia arrived in their brand new outfits
and they sat down in the first vacant seats they came to and found themselves
sitting next to the vicar Robert Hunter and his wife Tilly.
Tilly had married her vicar, Robert, and the beneficial side effect of
that marriage, was that it finally rid of her birth name Ophelia Bushe which
was a source of great embarrassment to her especially in her youth.
They exchanged greetings, hugs, kisses and polite small talk before
Olivia asked
“Are you not performing today Robert?”
“No” he said “it’s my day off”
“You get a day off?” Olivia asked
“Yes I have a curate” said Robert “so we divide the workload which is
great and he’s very keen so it allows me to spend more time with my lovely
wife”
“Oh how sweet” Tilly said
“How very interesting” Olivia said to herself.
Looking around the pews there were a sea of familiar faces, many of them
old friends and acquaintances plus there was an odd adversary.
The Bridegrooms brother Mortimer and soon to be wife Judith Hunt were
the first two who caught their eye.
Then Geoffrey and Laura Gregory, Victoria Braithwaite, India Carrington
and her girlfriend Maisie Stewart and India’s parent’s Cecil and Clemence.
The Zunguzah’s,
from the shop, who had already started on the next generation of little
shopkeepers with two small children in tow.
Dakota Browning and fiancé Tristan Bushe, Beryl Beamish, The Conway
sisters and last but by no means least Simon Fisher.
The man with whom both Olivia and Claire had previously had congress.
Not that either one knew the others secret.
He was there with his young wife Georgia and Olivia briefly made eye
contact with Simon and when he smiled at her she blushed beetroot red
“Are you alright?” Claire asked
“Yes it’s just very warm in here” she lied
The ceremony was wonderful and Pandora looked stunning, she always was a
beautiful woman, and there were many tears before, during and after.
More tears followed at the reception as old friendships were rekindled.
After the meal, speeches and toasts Claire and Olivia hardly saw each
other as they headed in opposite directions to mingle.
As they chatted their separate routes around the busy room at the Golf
Club, they renewed acquaintances and drank a liberally.
Even Agnes Snipe, the snooty and aloof commercial manager of the club,
took time to exchange pleasantries.
On her way around during the reception Olivia spent some little while in
deep conversation with Robert Hunter and afterwards she went outside on the
terrace and got her mobile out and after opening her address book she made a
selection and pressed call
“Hi Rev” she said “I have the solution”
By the end of the night she and Claire were quite tiddly.
The next morning they were up bright and early and although a little
jaded from the night before they still took full advantage of one of Carol
Wilsons world renowned full English breakfasts.
After breakfast they packed for the trip home but they left their bags
at the pub while they attended the Sunday service.
As they walked across the road they saw Judith Hunt coming along the
path.
She was a small woman with disproportionately large breasts and a heart
and personality to match, Judith Hunt was one of the angels.
“Hello you two” she said “I thought you’d gone already”
“Hi Jude” Claire said “No we’re getting the train after church”
“Oh it’s a rotten service on a Sunday” she said
“What, at St Lucy’s?” Claire said
“No, I meant the trains” Jude said and laughed
“I’ll drive you over to Kiddingstone”
“Are you sure?” Olivia said
“That’s very kind” Claire added
“Not at all” she insisted
After the service they said their goodbyes at the Church and walked over
to the pub while Judith returned home to get the car.
On the journey over they laughed as they reminisced about the good old
days.
At Kiddingstone station they stood on the pavement and she said
“It’s been so lovely to see you both again”
“You too Jude” Claire said and kissed her
Then Olivia did the same
“I hope you will come next year when Morty and I tie the knot” she said
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world” Liv said
They left Judith on the pavement dabbing her eyes with a hankie and went
straight through to the platform.
Almost to the second that the Abbottsford train pulled out of the
station Claire fell asleep.
She was exhausted thanks to a late night and a great deal of wine.
And her coma allowed time for Olivia to formulate her plans.
Claire woke up with a start the second the train came to a stop at the
buffers and was as fresh as a daisy.
They disembarked and Olivia stood on the concourse with the bags while
Claire went to spend a penny and then they swapped places.
When Olivia returned and she picked up the bags and she looked at Claire
and thought she had been crying but she didn’t mention it.
They walked to platform 8, showed their tickets and boarded the waiting
train.
Claire was practically silence all the way back to Shallowfield, and as
they passed through the penultimate station Olivia said
“Do you want me to ring Eva?”
“What?” Claire replied
“Do you want me to ring Eva?” she repeated “Or shall we get a cab?”
“We’ll get a cab” Claire replied flatly
It was close to four in the afternoon when they disembarked from the
train in Shallowfield and Claire didn’t say much as they walked to the taxi
rank and she said even less in the cab.
At the cottages they got out of the cab and Olivia settled the fare and then
Claire went straight inside without speaking.
Olivia thought she hadn’t been herself since Abbottsford but she thought
it must just have been tiredness.
The next morning Claire was transformed and was full of the joys of
spring.
So she thought her assessment that her mood the night before was due to
tiredness was right on the money.
But then on their way in to work she spotted Peter a short way from the
cottage and he was wearing the same inane grin on his face so she then knew
precisely what had transformed her.
Olivia was instantly jealous and thought she could do with some of that
kind of transformation but she wasn’t getting any.
And she wouldn’t be getting any for some time if she didn’t get the
wedding sorted.
While Claire and Peter were putting smiles on each other’s faces
Olivia spent the evening watching romantic comedies trying not to think
about sex.
The next day Olivia made an appointment to see Daniel Travers who lived
in South View with his invalid wife.
He was the Church warden at St Mary’s, but more importantly than that
for Olivia he was the head of the Olwen’s Chapel preservation society.
Olivia had got to know Daniel quite well in the months she had been at
Teardrop Lake as, apart from being Church Warden he was also the choir master
at St Mary’s and before her infirmity his wife Win had been the organist there for
many years and it was through the church that they had met forty one years
earlier.
In her youth Winifred was a striking looking woman with long black hair,
kept that way with a little help to keep the grey away.
She was also very straight backed and showed a confidence that was quite
disarming.
As a single professional woman in a well-paid job she could afford to
dress well and as a result she always looked very elegant.
In her latter years she let the grey hairs go unchecked but she made no
such concessions in regard to her dress and she still look elegant even seated
in a wheelchair.
Daniel was average, average height, average weight, average looking, and
with averagely mousy hair and as he aged, his hair became averagely grey.
Olivia picked up Ben when she left the surgery and they drove to South View.
Daniel invited them in to the drawing room and introduced Olivia to his
wife Win,
Ben needed no introduction as he had met her many times before.
“This is my wife Win” he said proudly
“I’m so pleased to meet you” Olivia said
“And me you my dear” Win replied “It’s about time Ben found himself a
good woman”
“The problem was you were already taken” Ben said
“Flatterer” she replied
Ben and Liv sat on the sofa and Daniel wheeled Win’s chair closer in,
then he sat too.
“So how can I help?” Daniel asked
“Oh Danny don’t play with them, you know perfectly well why they are
here” Win said indiscreetly
“Win!!” he said in exasperation
“We want to get married….” Olivia began “in Olwen’s Chapel”
“The Chapel hasn’t been used for a proper wedding since the first world
war” Daniel said “September 13th 1914 to be precise”
“Don’t you think that’s a shame?” Ben said
“I’m not sure” Daniel replied “it might set a precedence”
“But the society would still be in control” Olivia said
“You realize that it isn’t my decision to make” he said “I am just one
member of the society”
“But they will follow your lead dear” Win said
Liv and Ben left South View that night without getting a decision.
“Why would you not say yes?” Win asked
“I didn’t say no” he retorted
“But you will” she said
“Because it is just a whim” He said and Win gave him a look
“They’ve only known each other for four months” he said “And they
believe they’re in love”
“And how long who you known me before you fell in love” Win reminded him
“That was different” returned Dan
“No! It wasn’t” Win answered
Two days later Win finally got her way and he agreed it was in the
Church hall where he broke the news
“You can use the Chapel” he said “but there are conditions”
“Name them” Olivia said
“It must be on the 100th anniversary of the last wedding” Dan
said
“Agreed” Liv and Ben said in unison, that date fitted perfectly with the
time Ben would be off
“Secondly the society and only the society will prepare the Chapel for
the ceremony”
“Agreed” Liv and Ben said in unison again, they hadn’t given a moment’s
thought to that side of things anyway.
“Finally, and this is a deal breaker” Dan said solemnly
“Ok” Olivia said apprehensively
“Win must be invited” he said and Olivia and Ben burst out laughing.
Three days later Claire took Olivia back to Abbottsford to buy the dress
she had seen on their last trip.
And that was not Claire’s sole involvement in the arrangements in fact
she banned Olivia from doing anything, and took it all upon herself.
Actually Claire talked a good game but in truth she delegated everything
to those more aptly suited to the tasks.
The week before the wedding there was some light relief in the form of a
party when along with all the residents on the Lake Olivia and Ben were invited to
the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel, where the proprietor’s Rob and Sheryl Brown were
holding their wedding anniversary party.
In the week following it there was the obligatory hen night which
consisted of all the girls from the practice plus Amanda Flanders, which was
held at the Brown Windsor Restaurant.
It was a boozy and raucous occasion with led to more than one
substantial hangover.
The two days immediately before the wedding were quite unsettled but
from Friday afternoon onwards the weather dried up.
Olivia awoke from a fitful sleep with a disturbing thought.
She had never considered how to get there, she had been up to the Chapel
a number of times, but always in shorts and trainers, never in silk pumps and a
wedding outfit.
She got out of bed and put on her dressing gown and went to knock on
Claire’s door.
Her cottage was in darkness so she knocked again until she saw a light
go on.
The door opened a crack and Claire said
“Who is it?”
“It’s me” Olivia said “Who else would be knocking on you door at this
hour?”
“Quite” she agreed “So why are you knocking on my door at this hour?”
“How am I going to get up to the Chapel in my wedding dress?” she asked
“For goodness sake how many more times must I tell you everything is arranged,
now go back to bed” Claire instructed
“If you’re sure” she said
“Go” Claire said
Once back in bed Claire picked up her phone and called Amanda.
“Hello” she answered sleepily
“How is Olivia going to get up to the Chapel in her wedding dress?”
Claire asked
“Claire, everything is arranged” Amanda barked
“Good night”
“Ok” Claire said to herself when the phone went dead
The night before the wedding,
Olivia and Claire spent the night at the Coopers, where they had a nice supper together and the next morning Lynn
and her youngest daughter Karen did their makeup.
When they were
finished Olivia and Claire looked beautiful, Olivia in her bridal gown and
Claire, in an expensive silk outfit as her matron of honour, not that she was
asked to do it, it was always assumed by both parties that it would be that way
and so it was.
They were joined
by Lynn’s father in law Harry who was to give Olivia away, Harry was an ex-Army Major General formally of the
Downshire Light Infantry, and he saw action in Cyprus, Aden, Northern Ireland,
and The Falklands before his enforced retirement.
And then he was a reservist
through the first gulf war and Kosovo though he was never called upon other
than to just take part in a lot of territorial Exercises and eventually he
didn’t even have that.
He was in the first half of
his ninth decade with white hair, he was a proud looking man who still carried
himself with military bearing and with his arrival the
wedding party was ready to go.
However none of them
knew how the three of them would get to the chapel.
Lynn entered the
room and said excitedly
“The transport
has arrived”
They hurriedly
left the room and as soon as they got outside they gasped
“It’s beautiful!”
Said Claire
“It’s absolutely gorgeous”
exclaimed Liv
“Isn’t it?”
agreed Lynn
The thing that
they were so enraptured by was a Governess Cart.
It was a small two-wheeled
horse-drawn cart with a small tub body
decorated with flowers and inside were two opposite inward-facing seats.
It was pulled by a heavy set
white horse and by the horses head was Peter Lutchford’s Sister Amanda wearing
a powder blue summer dress, matching hat and very unbecoming boots.
“Climb aboard” Amanda said
There was a small hinged door
at the back with a step below Harry opened the door and Olivia got in first, then
Claire and finally Harry himself.
“We’ll see you there” Lynn said
and closed the door and then nodded to Amanda
“Walk on boy” she said and
the horse and cart moved off.
It took about half an hour
for Amanda to lead the Horse and Trap around the perimeter road and along the
wooded lane up to the chapel.
Claire and Harry were
chattering away the whole trip but Olivia didn’t hear a word she was lost in
the enchantment of it all, she was so happy and for the first time ever she
felt like a princess.
When they reached the point
on the lane closest to the chapel Amanda halted the cart.
Due to a stand of trees there
was no obvious sign of Olwen’s Chapel from the lane.
“Are we here?” Claire asked
“Yes indeed” Amanda replied
as she opened the door.
“Are you sure?” Claire said
looking around as she climbed down
“It’s just through there” she
said pointing to a narrow path
Harry came down next and then
held Olivia hand as she followed him.
Amanda kicked off her boots
and slipped on something more fitting and then led the way up the path.
It meandered through about 50
yards of dense woodland and then opened out into Olwen’s clearing, and when
they reached it Olivia gasped.
“Oh my” said Claire
The Society had prepared the
Chapel with flowers and chairs, borrowed from the church hall, and the altar
stone was dressed with cloth.
Lynn Cooper’s son in law
Steve Lerman provided the music and the Chapel was full of friends from
Shallowfield and Bushy Down and for the first time in her life Olivia Adamson
felt special.
Steve Lerman started the
music and Harry Cooper took her arm and led her up the aisle where Reverend
Robert Hunter was waiting to marry her to Ben Shenton.
It was a beautiful ceremony,
very moving and incredibly atmospheric.
Afterwards the reception was held
at the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel followed by a short honeymoon in the Grand
Hotel in Sharpington By Sea, courtesy of Peter Lutchford.
