A Daughter's Duty (37 page)

‘Normal?’ she asked acidly. But he was right, she knew it, and so for the sake of the twins she attended the ceremony and, surprisingly, felt her heart soften towards the dead man as she gazed at his coffin standing at the front of the chapel. She held Mary’s hand and the little girl cried because her auntie was crying but Michael stood as straight as a soldier and dry-eyed.

The chapel was almost empty. Alf had lost any friends he had had in the early days. It was a sad end.

The wedding was to be held at the Methodist Church in Easington Colliery at 3 p.m. on the Saturday after Christmas. There were only a handful of guests invited. After all, both bride and groom had been brought up on the other side of the county, Easington was a new beginning for them. Jeff’s grandmother had been his last relative. And Rose had only her Aunt Elsie and the twins.

The morning of the wedding, Rose sat at the dressing table in the spare bedroom of Marina and Brian’s home, gazing at her reflection in the mirror. She could hardly believe it was actually happening. Marina stood behind her, brushing her dark, lustrous hair into shining waves before pinning on the circlet of pearls and satin leaves which held the gauzy veil.

‘It was good of you to lend me your dress and everything,’ Rose murmured.

‘Oh, go on, don’t be soft,’ said Marina. ‘It suits you better than it ever did me anyroad. And I think it’s nice, us sharing like this. After all, it’s too nice a dress to be worn only once, isn’t it?’

Rose gazed once more at her reflection. The dress was of stiff, figured taffeta and in reaction to the war years was cut on generous lines with a full skirt, long sleeves and a heart-shaped neckline. It was a new fashion after the clinging satin which had been all there was available a year or two before.

Marina herself was to be matron of honour and her dress was a deep blue taffeta, unusual for a wedding but her idea was that it could easily be turned into a dance dress. ‘Just the thing for the New Year’s Eve ball at the Institute,’ she reckoned, and Rose agreed with her.

‘Though Brian’s worrying on like a hen with one chick since I told him I was expecting,’ commented Marina. ‘I told him, why shouldn’t I dance? I’m no more than four months gone after all, my waist’s hardly thickened yet. Here, what do you think?’

She turned sideways and looked into the mirror, and Rose obligingly got out of the way so she could see. ‘I’m sure you’re right,’ was her judgement. Marina seemed to have forgotten her ambitions to rise to the top of the Treasurer’s Department at Shire Hall. Now all she could think of was her Brian and the new baby. She had turned into a model housewife.

‘The car’s here,’ Brian called from the bottom of the stairs. He was going to have been Jeff’s best man but in the end had decided that Rose’s need for someone to give her away was more urgent.

The two girls smiled at one other. ‘Eeh, pet, I wish you all the luck in the world,’ said Marina, eyes suddenly bright with tears. ‘The Lord knows, you deserve it. You haven’t had much luck so far.’

‘But I have,’ Rose replied, her voice so soft it was almost a whisper. ‘I have Jeff, don’t I?’

‘You do indeed,’ Marina agreed and kissed her lightly on the cheek. ‘Howay now, time to go.’

Jeff had asked his marra from work to be his best man. Dan Murray was a tall, gangling sort of lad with a freckled face and hair somewhere between blond and ginger. He stood beside Jeff, beaming at everyone in the chapel, obviously delighted to be asked. There were plenty of people to smile at too. It seemed to Jeff that half his shift and their wives and girlfriends had come to see him wed, all of them dressed in their best: the women in wispy hats; the men with their hair slicked back with a quiff at the front in the mode of the day.

The organ struck up ‘Here Comes the Bride’ and Dan nudged Jeff. ‘Now then, lad, here we go.’ They stood and took their places before the communion rail, Dan fumbling in his pocket in a sudden panic that he had lost the ring. But Jeff was watching his Rose, his lovely flower, walking down the aisle on Brian’s arm, her smile the most beautiful he had seen in his life.

Behind her Marina stepped forward to receive the bouquet. The twins looked unnaturally solemn as they stood behind her, Michael’s hair slicked down with water and Mary’s tied up in pink satin ribbons.

From a side pew, Auntie Elsie watched them proudly, her habitual anxious expression completely gone, for hadn’t Rose promised the children could stay with her in Shotton, so long as they were happy there? And Elsie was well aware what heart-searching had gone into that decision. She turned her attention to the bride and groom as the service got under way.

‘Dearly beloved …’ the minister began. Jeff looked down at Rose, who had taken her place beside him, catching her glance up at him, and the two of them were once again wrapped in that precious golden haze of love.

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First published as
When Morning Comes
in 1999 by Piatkus Books

This edition published in 2014 by Ebury Press, an imprint of Ebury Publishing

A Random House Group Company

Copyright © 1999 Una Horne writing as Maggie Hope

Maggie Hope has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

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