The Youngest Bridesmaid (5 page)

II

After that nothing to Lou had been sane or real. Cousin Blanche
’
s pleadings had been desperate and undignified, the bridesmaids
’
comments unflattering if well-intentioned, and nobody seemed to stop talking, arguing or quarrelling.

“
You must be mad to throw away such an opportunity,
”
Cousin Blanche had said, finally getting rid of the bridesmaids who, were only adding to the confusion.
“
Here are you, a little nobody, refusing the chance of a lifetime for the sake of some romantic
scruple, to say nothing of repaying my own kindness with ingratitude. I wanted him for Melissa, that
’
s true, but at least I can accept a change of heart with a good grace.
”

“
Because,
”
Lou retorted, driven to honesty,
“
you think he would make you bankrupt, otherwise.
”

“
I don
’
t think, I know,
”
Blanche snapped.
“
Don
’
t imagine in your trusting innocence that Piers would not carry out his threat if he fails to get what he wants. He has old scores to pay off, and he
’
s a proud man.
”

“
He doesn
’
t want me. He
’
s hardly ever noticed me.
”

“
I
’
m not so sure. That time you danced
...
the way he sometimes teased you ... he was never in love with Melissa, you know. They simply suited for the moment.
”

“
I don
’
t suppose he
’
s ever loved anyone.
”

“
Very likely not, but you, Lou—you lost your heart to him a little, so marriage shouldn
’
t be too
difficult...
”

“
No
...
no
...
no
!
”
repeated Lou with infuriating stubbornness, and her cousin, for the moment, gave up. The child would have to be persuaded somehow, if the creditors were to be staved off, but in the meantime they were both too much on edge to arrive at any profitable understanding.

“
You
’
d better go and change your dress,
”
she said coldly.
“
Heaven knows how it
’
s going to get paid for now anyway.
”

Lou rose obediently and started across the hall
,
already dim and shadowy in the failing light. It must be late afternoon, she supposed, and the house seemed suddenly very quiet after the ceaseless rise and fall of feminine voices. The caterers had gone, but the drawing room doors stood open, and she
p
eeped inside to gaze disconsolately on the lavish preparations for the reception. Tears of regret for the ignominious ending to Cousin Blanche
’
s bright schemes sprang to her eyes as she looked. The scent of the hothouse flowers which, alone, must have cost a fortune, was already overpowering, and there was
such a predominating note of white, ghostly and rather funereal, in the shadows that Lou shivered.

“
It
’
s like a wake, not a wedding,
”
she said aloud.

“
Yes, it is rather,
”
Piers
’
voice observed unexpectedly behind her, and two firm hands came to rest lightly on her shoulders.

She turned swiftly round to face him, taken utterly by surprise.

“
I thought you
’
d gone long ago,
”
she said.

“
I
’
m still waiting for my answer,
”
he replied, one finger touching with gentle curiosity a tear that still clung to her lashes.
“
Has Blanche been bullying you?
”

“
No, not really—and
you had my answer.
”

“
But I
’
d hoped you weren
’
t serious.
”

“
Why? Because no girl has ever turned you down before?
”

He smiled with surprised amusement at this unexpected flash of bravado, and gave her a little shake.

“
You know nothing about my much publicized love-life,
”
he
said with mock severity.

“
Only what I read in the gossip columns.
”

“
Exactly. And think what a whale of a ball the gossip writers are going to have after tomorrow if you insist on remaining stubborn.
”

“
I don
’
t see,
”
Lou replied wearily,
“
that it will make much difference. They
’
d be pop-eyed anyway with a change of bride.
”

“
Quite true, but that
’
s an entirely different kettle of fish; no resurrected scandal for poor Cousin Blanche, no hungry creditors on the doorstep, only a last-minute conjuring trick to whet the public
’
s appetite. It
’
s a scoop handed out on a plate to any ambitious reporter.
”

“
What should I care about the public
’
s appetite? Besides—
”

“
Like me, my child, damn all! Besides what?
”

“
You can
’
t get married to somebody else at a moment
’
s notice. It wouldn
’
t be legal.
”

“
Are you weakening? There
’
s such a thing as a special licence—all perfectly legal.
”

“
Oh! How long—
”

“
—would it take? I
’
ve already done it, while you women were wrangling in the other room.
”

If he had not held her with sudden firmness she would have slipped away from his hands.

“
You
—you were so sure that I couldn
’
t resist such a prize that you—oh, you
’
re quite impossible!
”
she cried, but her struggling ceased as his finger traced another tear along her lashes.

“
I
’
m not such a prize, dear Lou,
”
he said with humility.
“
Don
’
t think that because I
’
m rich and what the scandal sheets have termed a catch, I don
’
t know my own shortcomings. I really haven
’
t asked for half the wild surmises that have been flying around, you know.
”

“
No,
I don
’
t suppose you have,
”
she said, wondering if he had talked to Melissa like this. But Melissa would not have cared. Melissa only wanted a share in the publicity, no matter how untrue it was, and even she, in the end, had settled for her heart
’
s dictates.

“
Well?
”
he said.

“
Well what?
”

“
You know very well. Look, Lou, I admit I was riled, possibly beyond reason, at this rather salutary slap in the face, and I admit that I had every intention of making your dear Cousin Blanche pay, not only for getting every cent out of me she could, but for her treatment of my father. Do you think that unreasonable?
”

“
I don
’
t know. Does one bear grudges so far back?
”

He looked suddenly weary with the old look of disillusionment.

‘
It was hardly a grudge in quite that sense,
”
he said.
“
I suppose what one loses suddenly as a child can color one
’
s life. I thought Blanche was wonderful, you see. I had never known my own mother, and Blanche—well, she naturally made much of me, I suppose, since she was going to marry my father.
”

There was a little silence. The shadows had deepened even as they talked, and outside the rain still beat relentlessly down. Cousin Blanche, thought Lou inconsequentially, must have known that Piers was waiting to plead his own cause.

“
Yes ... I see ...
”
Lou said, moved despite herself, but hardly aware of what it was she saw.

“
You
’
re very tired, aren
’
t you?
”
Piers said, feeling the sudden slackness in her limbs.
“
Don
’
t worry about these things any more. I would like you to know, though, that my ultimatum to your cousin wasn
’
t entirely
the piece of blackmail you all took it for.
”

“
Then you won
’
t—?
”

His face hardened at once.
“
Oh, yes, I will, but that has nothing to do with you now.
”

“
But it has. Cousin Blanche—well, I can
’
t let her be ruined for the sake of—for the sake of—
”

“
For the sake of what? Your cousin might be more than temporarily embarrassed, as they say, but she wouldn
’
t be ruined in the long run. Someone
w
ould come to the rescue, someone always has.
”

“
I don
’
t know what you
’
re trying to tell me,
”
Lou said.

“
I
’
m trying to tell you that I want to marry you, my dear—that I think, if you are not averse to me, that you are, perhaps, what I need—or am I being high-and-mighty again? One never knows.
”

Lou had little fight left in her, and the tenderness was back in his face, the tenderness that matched the warmth of his voice which had first charmed her.

“
No, you
’
re not being high-and-mighty, Piers—what can I do?
”

“
Marry me. Oh, it won
’
t be all beer and skittles in spite of my wealth, and I
’
m possibly too old for you, still—
”

“
Still—
”
echoed Lou, too tired, for further argument, and Piers bent his head to kiss her. His lips, warm and unexpectedly tender on hers, were a benediction, and her eyes flew open.

“
That wasn
’
t fair,
”
she said.

“
Not fair? But you are going to marry me—aren
’
t you?
”

“
Yes
...
”
she said on a note of surprise, and a little sigh of relief escaped her that the long struggle was over, that this stranger to whom she was suddenly pledged might have, after all, a strange, unexpected solace to give.

“
Thank you,
”
he said, releasing her.
“
Now I can leave. Till tomorrow, then, Lou, and—be of good heart. God bless!
”

Tomorrow
...
Tomorrow had inevitably come, of course, but not before Lou was worn out with the many arrangements which immediately
engulfed her. She must wear Melissa
’
s wedding dress, Cousin Blanche ordained; there was not time to arrange anything else, and the two girls were much the same size. The fitters were recalled and Lou stood clad in the miraculous fairy-tale creation which had first captured her imagination, while the fitters pinned and snipped, deftly reducing and shortening, for although reasonably of the same build, Lou was noticeably more slender and Melissa the taller of the two.

“
Ah, mademoiselle, the gown is ravishing,
”
the head fitter said, and Lou wondered what she was thinking at this extraordinary turn of events, but to Lou now, and possibly to the tired woman working stoically overtime, it no longer much mattered what anyone thought.

“
You must take such of the trousseau as you may need, for you
’
ve nothing suitable yourself,
”
Cousin Blanche said magnanimously, and Lou had looked at Melissa
’
s exquisite wardrobe and acquiesced in anything that was suggested. Mink hung from the padded hangers, sleekly elegant coats, stoles and jackets, and the chinchilla bolero which only a few days ago Melissa had exchanged so recklessly.

“
Not that,
”
said Lou, remembering that it had been treble the cost of the stole and a rather mean extravagance in view of her subsequent behaviour.

“
Why not? It
’
s charming,
”
Blanche had said, but she was pleased. Chinchilla was too old a fur for the very young; it would flatter highly her own good looks and be something salvaged for herself.