There were strangers in the crowd too, and Bobby noticed as she walked to the church hall that a number of rather grand motor cars were now dotted around the village. These, she presumed, belonged to Topsy’s upper-crust friends. Certainly none of the local farmers could afford vehicles like that.
She wondered fleetingly where they were getting their petrol from. Reg had had to take his old Wolseley off the road months ago thanks to cuts in the fuel allowance, and it had recently been announced that from July, petrol coupons for civilians would be done away with altogether. Rationing was supposed to guarantee an equal share for all, but it did seem that when it came to the upper classes, different rules applied.
The reception was as typically Topsy as the wedding itself, in that it ignored every convention in favour of being exactly what the bride wanted.
When Bobby entered the church hall, she was expecting to find sedate rows of tables set for a meal, adorned with some of the gold-trimmed tablecloths she had spent so long stitching. There were certainly a number of tables draped in the cloths, but these had been pushed against the walls, where they almost buckled under the weight of floral arrangements and food.
Her newly married friend Bess Jenkins’s eyes would bulge out of her head if she could see such a spread, after what she had told Bobby of her own modest wedding feast: spam sandwiches and jam tarts. A few tables had been laid out for sitting at, but most of the floor was clear, and a dance band were seated at the front of the room.
The happy couple arrived at that moment. Bobby watched as Piotr and Chip lifted Teddy’s wheelchair inside, with Topsy hopping up the steps beside him. Topsy beamed as the band launched into a swing version of the wedding march. Bobby, who was nearest the door, claimed her friend for a hug while some of the men came over to shake Teddy by the hand.
‘All the joy in the world, my love,’ Bobby said, giving her friend a squeeze.
‘Thank you, darling.’
‘The spread looks incredible. Are people to just help themselves?’
‘That’s right. I didn’t want some stuffy meal with speeches and all that rot. I wanted everyone up dancing. We had to have a few tables for the old folk, but I don’t want to see a single person under seventy sitting down today.’
‘This is more grub than these people will have seen in years,’ Bobby said, running her wondering gaze over it all. ‘All the village housewives will be running home for bigger handbags.’
She could see Jessie, Florrie and some of the other children staring pop-eyed at the sweet things, and knew they’d set upon them like locusts as soon as they were given permission to help themselves.
‘As long as everyone enjoys themselves.’ Topsy smiled at Teddy, who was being slapped on the back by Piotr. ‘But I mustn’t neglect my new husband.’
Teddy grinned when he caught her eye, and wheeled himself to her. He bowed and held out a hand. ‘A dance, Mrs Nowak?’
‘It would be my pleasure, Mr Nowak,’ Topsy said, giggling as she dropped a curtsey. Piotr took charge of the wheelchair so Teddy could lead his new bride to the dance floor.
Bobby watched as Archie entered with another young man, who she recognised as one of Topsy’s fashionable friends. She had seen him once before, at Topsy’s Christmas party. He was blinking in puzzlement.
‘I don’t get it, Sumner,’ she overheard him saying. ‘What is this place?’
‘It’s a church hall, Dolly. Don’t they have them where you are?’
‘I wouldn’t know, I’ve never looked.’ The young man known as Dolly stared at the new husband and wife moving around the floor, Piotr pushing so that Teddy could lead his bride in a waltz. ‘Why here? Why not the Dorch or somewhere, if she can’t have it at her place?’
Archie shrugged. ‘No use asking me. You might remember I resigned from the role of groom.’
‘Who are all these people?’
‘Farmers and their families mostly. They live in the village.’
‘Farmers?’ Dolly gazed blankly around the hall. ‘I don’t understand. Is it some sort of wheeze?’
‘No, it’s just Topsy,’ Archie said with a laugh.
‘What could she be thinking of, marrying a Pole? She could have had anyone. I mean, the man can’t even walk.’
‘I suppose she was thinking that she loved him,’ Archie said as he reached over to help himself to an hors d’oeuvre.
Dolly curled his lip as he watched the odd dance: Topsy clasping Teddy’s hand while he was wheeled in time to the music. ‘Look at them. It’s absurd.’
‘Tops doesn’t think so. I’ve never seen her look so proud.’ Archie spotted Bobby and smiled. ‘Excuse me, old man. There’s a young lady here I simply must ask to dance.’
He left his friend to approach her.
‘I’d love to, Arch,’ Bobby said before he could ask.
