With a growing sense of excitement, Florence began to get dressed, slipping on the lovely dress Miss Romily had bought for her. It was going to be the most perfect of days, she told herself. But even as she thought this, a small part of her longed for her mother to be here to witness her marrying Billy.
At once she chased the futile thought away and wondered instead how Allegra was getting on at Winter Cottage.
Allegra was in tears. ‘Sono brutta! Non posso farlo! I can’t do it! I can’t!’
Hope shook her head wearily. ‘Allegra,’ she said as patiently as she could. ‘You don’t look ugly; far from it – you look beautiful, just like every bride does.’
Allegra snapped her head up and stared at Hope, her eyes flashing angrily. ‘Madonna, how can you say that! Just look at the size of me! I look ridiculous in this dress! This heart-shaped neck was a terrible mistake; my bosom is more out than in! I swear the dress fitted when I bought it. How could I have got fatter since only a few days ago? Oh, la mia vergogna!’
‘You look lovely, Allegra, and by the time you have Romily’s fur stole on, your breasts will be perfectly hidden.’
‘Don’t patronise me, Hope!’ Allegra screeched, stamping her foot. ‘I’m not a child!’
Her patience wearing thin, Hope sighed. ‘Can I say anything that won’t lead to me having my head bitten off?’
Allegra glared at her, her eyes dangerously wide, her hands on her hips. Then, as if slowly loosening the tightly wound coil inside her, she composed herself. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s just that I want to look my best for Elijah.’
‘And you will, I promise you.’
Hope had been here with Allegra since breakfast to fulfil her role as bridesmaid, a role that she was dividing between her cousin and Florence. Annelise was playing her part too, as a flower girl, but wisely Hope had left her back at Island House in Romily’s care.
Glancing at her reflection in the mirror once more, Allegra shook her head in disgust.
‘It might help if you stopped looking at yourself,’ Hope suggested.
‘I have to know the worst,’ Allegra muttered dismally, before whipping round to face her. ‘Tell me honestly. Do I look very awful?’
‘I’ve told you many times already, you look beautiful. I wouldn’t lie to you. Now stand still while I do your hair.’
Amazingly Allegra did as instructed and allowed Hope to finish pinning up her dark hair. As she worked, Hope risked giving her cousin some advice. ‘Allegra,’ she said soothingly, ‘please be happy on your wedding day. Don’t spoil it by worrying about how you look. Elijah loves you. He’ll take care of you no matter what. Your vows today will include the words “in sickness and in health”, which means that pregnant or not pregnant, fat or thin, Elijah will love you. He’s a good man.’
Allegra looked back at Hope in the mirror. ‘He is, you’re right. I am the one who is not good; we both know that. I wish with all my heart the baby was his.’
‘To all intents and purposes it will be. The child will grow up always believing Elijah is its father.’
‘I hope you’re right. I really don’t deserve him. I just hope he knows what he’s doing.’
‘I’m sure he does,’ Hope said firmly. God help him if he didn’t!
Seconds passed before Allegra said, ‘May I ask you something, Hope?’
‘Of course.’
‘Were you as nervous as me on your wedding day?’
With a stab of pain, Hope thought back to that day in London when she and Dieter had married. Neither of them had had any family members there to support them, and though she had fought back the pang of regret that she had not invited Kit, she had stood by her decision. This was about her and Dieter and their love for each other. And no, she had not been nervous, not one little bit. She had never been surer about a thing than she was that morning as she dressed herself and did her hair. But to put her cousin at ease, she said, ‘Nervous? Oh, I was as skittish as a kitten. I could barely remember my own name I was in such a state.’
Allegra frowned. ‘I would never have thought that of you.’
Glad that her lie had seemed to reassure her, Hope smiled. ‘Just goes to show, one can never know a person completely.’
‘There now,’ she said a short while later, ‘you look as beautiful a bride as any I’ve seen. And if you hold your flowers in front of you, like this,’ she added brightly, ‘nobody would ever know you were seven months pregnant.’
Allegra looked at her dubiously, but obediently took the proffered arrangement of pink roses and white carnations and held them so that they draped over her stomach. Hope placed the borrowed white fur stole around her cousin’s shoulders, but there was no getting away from it: Allegra’s swelling bosoms had a mind of their own and were determined to have their day.
As if reading her thoughts, Allegra smirked. ‘I hope the sight of me won’t be too much of a distraction for the Reverend Tate.’
‘His eyes will be practically out on stalks the whole time,’ said Hope good-humouredly. ‘You’ll be a war bride he won’t forget in a hurry.’
