Without a Trace (47 page)

BOOK: Without a Trace

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When the vicar asked the groom to lift Molly’s veil, George felt his heart swelling up and becoming tight in his chest because Molly looked so lovely. He had always thought of her as the prettiest girl in Sawbridge but, in her ivory satin dress, she looked simply beautiful. Her skin was radiant, her hair fixed up in some kind of topknot with her veil but with little curls escaping onto her pink cheeks. And those beautiful blue eyes were fixed on him as if he were a god.

The church was packed. It was, after all, the wedding that even the most cynical people in the village had wanted to take place.

Earlier today, George’s father had given his opinion about the impending marriage. ‘Son, if I’d been asked to pick the right girl for you, Molly would have been my first and only choice. She’s got a mind, a caring heart, a ton of patience and a pretty face. You belong together.’

George might have always believed she was the girl for him, but it had been a long road and, even after the engagement, there had still been hurdles in the way.

Miss Gribble was hanged on 2 January. The newspapers had a field day with it, rehashing every last bit of information
about her, Christabel, Sylvia and Molly, and plenty of newer, juicy stuff that had surfaced during the trial.

Molly was struggling enough with all the dreadful memories it brought back, and she wasn’t prepared for all the extra gossip and speculation in the village. It got to the point where she couldn’t leave the house without someone accosting her. And these people often grew indignant and quite nasty when she said she had nothing to say about it.

Things got so bad she opted to go back to work in Rye. She used the excuse that she needed to work, but George knew it was more because she was afraid Petal might be having the same difficulties.

He understood. It was quite feasible that Petal might get to hear things that would upset her, and Molly could explain things in a way a little girl would understand. Another reason to leave Sawbridge was the burnt-out shop; each time Molly passed, it was an unwanted memory of how her parents had died.

George had swallowed his disappointment, agreed she should go and put in for his sergeant’s exam, which he’d been talking about taking for over a year. Without Molly in the house he had no distractions from studying for the exam, and one weekend in four he drove his motorbike down to see her.

One loose end about Cassie was finally stitched up during that time – the question of why she had gone to Bristol every Thursday and where she had got her money from. An elderly gentleman called Thomas Woods had rung the Sawbridge police station just after Miss Gribble was sentenced.

‘I should’ve come forward before,’ he said to the desk sergeant. ‘I didn’t because I thought my friendship with Cassandra would be misinterpreted. I am almost completely
blind, and she came to read to me, through a librarian in Bristol library. She was a real treasure. She not only read to me but wrote letters for me, did a bit of cleaning and became a dear friend, because she loved books as much as I do. I paid her well because I valued her.

‘A friend who had watched Miss Gribble’s trial closely told me that the defence barrister had implied that Cassandra’s income had come from immoral earnings. It was then that I felt I had to put the record straight. No woman should be wrongly accused of such a thing, especially when that woman was as kind and intelligent as Cassandra was.’

That last piece of the jigsaw meant a great deal to Molly. It rounded everything off; all her questions had been answered. It was another good thing she could tell Petal about, and perhaps they could even go to see Mr Woods one day.

That last mystery about Cassie might have been cleared up, but George found himself thinking that the situation he and Molly were in, being so far apart, would never change. He had begun to think that the journey would seem to grow longer each time and leaving her ever more painful. Yet it did change. He passed his sergeant’s exam and shortly afterwards was offered a posting in Hastings, just a bus ride from Rye.

Both he and Molly saw the new posting as heaven sent, and decided to marry as soon as possible. The insurance money from the shop had come through, and Molly’s share, after sending half to Emily, was enough to put a deposit down on a house. George had enough savings to buy furniture and pay for the wedding. They booked a honeymoon in Hastings so they could look for a house while they were there.

Everything was arranged in the three weeks it took to have the banns read at church. Molly got both her dress and Petal’s
made in Rye, and Janice, George’s mother, took on the arrangements for the flowers and wedding cake. It seemed to George that Molly was on the phone to Janice about all this more often than she was to him.

His parents were a bit sad that the couple would be setting up home a long way from Somerset, but they’d always known that George couldn’t possibly stay in such a quiet backwater if he wanted to advance his career. George guessed that they also thought he and Molly needed to move to a town where they weren’t known, to build a new life and make new friends. It was close enough to Rye that Molly and Petal could visit Ted and Evelyn, but at the same time they wouldn’t feel they had their every move watched.

Now, finally, they were here in the church, which was packed with friends and relatives. Sunshine was streaming through the stained-glass windows, making pools of vivid colours on the old stone floor and the air was heavy with the scent of the flowers.

Their vows made, George put the ring on Molly’s finger, and he felt so happy when the vicar said that they were now man and wife he felt like cheering. He couldn’t stop smiling as he walked with his new wife to the vestry to sign the register. Harry and Dilys were their witnesses, but Ted and Evelyn took Petal’s hands and followed on, leaving Mr and Mrs Walsh taking up the rear.

Petal had behaved impeccably throughout the service, but the second the vicar had shaken hands with everyone before they left the vestry she took up a position in front of the group, wearing a somewhat belligerent expression on her face.

‘So now George is Molly’s husband, how long will it be
before I go to live with them and call them Mummy and Daddy?’ she asked.

A kind of communal giggle went round the vestry. Evelyn put her hand over her mouth to supress it, but everyone else just grinned and looked at Petal.

‘I thought I told you we had to wait until later?’ Evelyn said.

Molly looked from Petal to George, frowning with puzzlement.

‘We’ve got permission from the Children’s Department,’ George admitted. ‘Ted, Evelyn and I were going to break the wonderful news at the reception, but it seems Petal couldn’t wait any longer.’

‘You mean, she’ll be our little girl?’ Molly’s voice rose almost to a shriek in her joy. ‘And live with us in Hastings?’

George swept Petal up with one arm and put the other around Molly. ‘Yes, she’s going to be our little girl and, we hope, a big sister to any babies that come along later.’

‘So that’s why none of you seemed concerned when I kept talking about how long it would take me to get to Rye from Hastings in the morning?’ Molly said with mock-indignation. ‘You all knew I wouldn’t be going because I’ll have better things to do than go to work!’

‘We weren’t ruling out the idea of you coming in for the odd day and in the school holidays, to keep your hand in,’ Ted said, grinning broadly. ‘But, with a new home to organize and Petal to care for, I don’t think you’ll be wanting to do chambermaid duties any more.’

Molly noticed that Mrs Walsh was laughing. ‘You knew about this, too?’ she asked.

‘Yes, George told us a week ago, and we’re thrilled. He’s been badgering the Children’s Department ever since you got
engaged. But we’d better get out of this vestry and let the confetti throwing commence, before all the guests come charging in here.’

Molly kissed George. ‘I love you, Mr Walsh. I loved you before, but I love you even more now. Petal is the best wedding present ever.’

George opened the door, and the organ player, who had been playing quietly all the time they’d been in the vestry, upped the volume to alert everyone that they were coming out.

Petal gathered up the train of Molly’s dress and walked proudly behind the newly married couple.

As Molly and George walked slowly down the aisle, everyone got to their feet to look and smile at them. Everyone was there: friends from school, others they had made since, George’s fellow policemen pals, customers from the shop, neighbours and fellow shopkeepers.

‘It’ll be sad to leave them all behind,’ Molly whispered to George.

‘Not that sad,’ he whispered back. ‘It will be good to start again with a clean sheet.’