The Wedding
The wedding was over. Flowers, favours, fuss and fluster, incense, 'The
Voice that breathed o'er Eden,' suppressed nervous excitement, maddening
delay, shuffling and whispers, acute long-drawn-out boredom of the men,
sentimental interest of the women, tears of emotion from dressmakers in
the background, disgusted resignation on the part of people who wanted
to be at Kempton (and couldn't hear results as soon as they wished),
envy and jealousy, admiration for the bride, and uncontrollable smiles
of pitying contempt for the bridegroom. How is it that the bridegroom,
who is, after all, practically the hero of the scene, should always be
on that day, just when he is the man of the moment, so hugely, pitiably
ridiculous?
Nevertheless, he was envied. It was said on all sides that Hyacinth
looked beautiful, though old-fashioned people thought she was too
self-possessed, and her smile too intelligent, and others complained
that she was too ideal a bride--too much like a portrait by Reynolds and
not enough like a fashion-plate in the _Lady's Pictorial_.
Sir Charles had given her away with his impassive air of almost absurd
distinction. It had been a gathering of quite unusual good looks, for
Hyacinth had always chosen her friends almost unconsciously with a view
to decorative effect, and there was great variety of attraction. There
were bridesmaids in blue, choristers in red, tall women with flowery
hats, young men in tight frock-coats and buttonholes, fresh 'flappers'
in plaits, beauties of the future, and fascinating, battered creatures
in Paquin dresses, beauties of the past.
As to Lady Cannon, she had been divided between her desire for the
dramatic importance of appearing in the fairly good part of the Mother
of the Bride, and a natural, but more frivolous wish to recall to the
memory of so distinguished a company her success as a professional
beauty of the 'eighties, a success that clung to her with the faded
poetical perfume of pot-pourri, half forgotten.
Old joys, old triumphs ('Who is she?' from the then Prince of Wales at
the opera, with the royal scrutiny through the opera-glass), and old
sentiments awoke in Lady Cannon with Mendelssohn's wedding March, and,
certainly, she was more preoccupied with her mauve toque and her
embroidered velvet gown than with the bride, or even with her little
Ella, who had specially come back from school at Paris for the occasion,
who was childishly delighted with her long crook with the floating blue
ribbon, and was probably the only person present whose enjoyment was
quite fresh and without a cloud.
Lady Cannon was touched, all the same, and honestly would have cried,
but that, simply, her dress was really too tight. It was a pity she had
been so obstinate with the dressmaker about her waist for this
particular day; an inch more or less would have made so little
difference to her appearance before the world, and such an enormous
amount to her own comfort. 'You look lovely, Mamma--as though you
couldn't breathe!' Ella had said admiringly at the reception.
Indeed, her comparatively quiet and subdued air the whole afternoon,
which was put down to the tender affection she felt for her husband's
ward, was caused solely and entirely by the cut of her costume.
Obscure relatives, never seen at other times, who had given glass
screens painted with storks and water-lilies, or silver hair-brushes or
carriage-clocks, turned up, and were pushing at the church and cynical
at the reception. Very smart relatives, who had sent umbrella-handles
and photograph-frames, were charming, and very anxious to get away;
heavy relatives, who had sent cheques, stayed very late, and took it out
of everybody in tediousness; the girls were longing for a chance to
flirt, which did not come; young men for an opportunity to smoke, which
did. Elderly men, their equilibrium a little upset by champagne in the
afternoon, fell quite in love with the bride, were humorous and jovial
until the entertainment was over, and very snappish to their wives
driving home.
Like all weddings it had left the strange feeling of futility, the
slight sense of depression that comes to English people who have tried,
from their strong sense of tradition, to be festive and sentimental and
in high spirits too early in the day. The frame of mind supposed to be
appropriate to an afternoon wedding can only be genuinely experienced by
an Englishman at two o'clock in the morning. Hence the dreary failure of
these exhibitions.
Lord Selsey was present, very suave and cultivated, and critical, and
delighted to see his desire realised. Mrs Raymond was not there. Edith
looked very pretty, but rather tired. Bruce had driven her nearly mad
with his preparations. He had evidently thought that he would be the
observed of all observers and the cynosure of every eye. He was terribly
afraid of being too late or too early, and at the last moment, just
before starting, thought that he had an Attack of Heart, and nearly
decided not to go, but recovered when Archie was found stroking his
father's hat the wrong way, apparently under the impression that it was
a pet animal of some kind. Bruce had been trying, as his mother called
it, for a week, because he thought the note written to thank them for
their present had been too casual. Poor Edith had gone through a great
deal on the subject of the present, for Bruce was divided by so many
sentiments on the subject. He hated spending much money, which indeed he
couldn't afford, and yet he was most anxious for their gift to stand out
among the others and make a sensation.
He was determined above all things to be original in his choice, and
after agonies of indecision on the subject of fish-knives and Standard
lamps, he suddenly decided on a complete set of Dickens. But as soon as
he had ordered it, it seemed to him pitiably flat, and he countermanded
it. Then they spent weary hours at Liberty's, and other places of the
kind, when Bruce declared he felt a nervous breakdown coming on, and
left it to Edith, who sent a fan.
When Hyacinth was dressed and ready to start she asked for Anne. It was
then discovered that Miss Yeo had not been seen at all since early that
morning, when she had come to Hyacinth's room, merely nodded and gone
out again. It appeared that she had left the house at nine o'clock in
her golf-cap and mackintosh, taking the key and a parcel. This had
surprised no-one, as it was thought that she had gone to get some little
thing for Hyacinth before dressing. She had not been seen since.
Well, it was no use searching! Everyone knew her odd ways. It was
evident that she had chosen not to be present. Hyacinth had to go
without saying good-bye to her, but she scribbled a note full of
affectionate reproaches. She was sorry, but it could not be helped. She
was disappointed, but she would see her when she came back. After all,
at such a moment, she really couldn't worry about Anne.
And so, pursued by rice and rejoicings--and ridicule from the little
boys in the street by the awning--the newly-married couple drove to the
station, '_en route_,' as the papers said, with delightful vagueness,
'_for the Continent_.'
What did they usually talk about when alone?
Cecil wondered.
The only thing he felt clearly, vividly, and definitely was a furious
resentment against Lord Selsey.
'Do you love me, Cecil? Will you always love me? Are you happy?'
Ashamed of his strange, horrible mood of black jealousy, Cecil turned to
his wife.