After all the hullabaloo, the actual anvil ceremony was almost humdrum. Geoffrey was pleased to have the entire authentic experience once the mothers agreed to the location. The King’s Head barman said he could do the proceedings if pressed, but referred them to the best officiator, the smithy next to the road in the very center of Gretna Green.
Thus, around two o’clock, the party of six strolled from the inn across the grassy green to the blacksmith’s shop. The apprentice was the first to greet them, and he went to find Mr. Lang, who appeared in his heavy apron in the open doorway.
“Will you marry them?” asked Lord Chimes, nodding toward Geoffrey and Caroline.
The man grinned to see an entire wedding party when usually he was faced with only a harried couple, looking fearfully over their shoulders.
“Aye, if you’ve got the coin.”
Geoffrey was astonished when Caroline’s father did, indeed, pay the blacksmith, handing over two guineas and earning a kiss on his cheek from his grateful daughter. They entered the hot, almost stifling workroom.
And then the man asked them their names as he and Caroline stood before him holding hands. Mr. Lang even managed to bring a little formality to the absurdly brief ceremony, mentioning God and trust and long happiness before proclaiming them man and wife.
When the blacksmith told them they could kiss, Geoffrey thought it would be the most uncomfortable thing he’d done in his whole life. Moreover, it might earn him Lord and Lady Chimes’s fury. Regardless, as soon as he locked gazes with Caroline, she smiled up at him. In front of all those watching, he gave her a brief but firm kiss.
Then Mr. Lang lifted a hammer resting at the wooden base, which held an anvil, and gave the iron a mighty whack.
“The sound will tell the whole village another couple has married,” the man said. Then he handed each of them a calling card. “Tell your friends of my easy, swift, affordable service.”
With that, he walked away, unconcerned about their signing a register. Regardless, the apprentice provided a half-sheet of paper, a “certificate,” he called it proudly, which he said they could put their names on as well as those of their witnesses. Then he, too, disappeared.
Geoffrey glanced down. “The blacksmith can write, apparently. He has signed his name.” He handed this to his father.
“Simon,” Lord Diamond exclaimed. He started to laugh. “My boy, heir to an earldom, has just been wed by a Simple Simon.”
Lord Chimes didn’t look so amused. “As long as it’s legal.” He peered at the card in his hand before shoving it into his pocket. “Tell our friends! Hardly.”
The mothers were silent. Then each sniffed and withdrew a handkerchief, wiping their noses and dabbing at their eyes. It might be because the building was hot as Hades, but more likely, sentimentality had overcome each of them.
“Lady Chimes, please don’t cry,” Geoffrey said. “I have gained a second mother, and I vow never to give your daughter a moment’s grief. I shall make her as happy as I am able.”
The lady nodded before hugging her daughter and then taking her husband’s hand.
Geoffrey’s father slapped him on the shoulder, and Lady Diamond actually hugged Caroline.
“Welcome to the Diamond family.”
“Thank you, my lady. I hope to be a worthy member.”
Lord Chimes, who was still within earshot, let out a loud snort of derision.
Before any unpleasantness could arise, Geoffrey said, “I think it would be a good idea to cross back over intoEngland and lodge at the closest coaching inn before dark. One that has a bit of luxury to it. The Crown and Blade, perhaps.”
With everyone in agreement, they returned to the King’s Head and packed up, much to the disappointment of the barman.
“For the first time, I am helping you into our carriage as my wife,” Geoffrey said to Caroline, who hadn’t stopped beaming since he’d kissed her at the blacksmith’s.
She offered a squeak of excitement and settled in on the same side as him. The bricks had been warmed, they had a woolen blanket over their laps, and a flask of brandy. Their mothers had been joined by their fathers in the earl’s coach with the horses tied up to follow.
“I am extremely glad not to be in my father’s carriage,” he said. “I cannot imagine how thick the silence, nor conversely how tense the conversation.”
“And to think, we brought about their new friendship,” she said teasingly.
He laughed. In the next instant, she’d twisted to face him and put her arms around him.
“That was a tepid kiss at Simple Simon’s, dear husband. I think we can do better.”
Long before sunset, they reached the Crown and Blade. A celebratory meal was ordered, and the three married couples were assigned their rooms.
