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“Did they?” Ryan snarled. When the vicar looked at the floor, Ryan grabbed him by his shoulders and glared at him. “Tell me now. Did they pay you to conduct the service with a promise that the paperwork would be sorted out after the wedding?”
“Well, yes,” the vicar replied. “But they offered a substantial donation to the church.”
“Did they give it to you? The donation?”
“Well, no, not yet. The lady promised that it would be with me just as soon as the wedding was finalised.”
“You do know that conducting a marriage ceremony without the requisite paperw
ork is a crime, don’t you? I can have you defrocked for even attempting to wed a couple without the proper authorisation,” Ryan snapped.
“Look, what is all this?” the bride’s father suddenly demanded from behind them.
“Fraud, that’s what it is. This vicar is a criminal and is facing being defrocked for accepting bribes,” Norman snorted.
“It wasn’t a bribe.” The vicar looked panicked.
“It was if you were prepared to ignore the legal requirements of a marriage ceremony for monetary gain, even a large donation to your church,” Ryan snorted. “You, sir, are a fraud, and should be defrocked. I shall have a word with your superior over your conduct.”
The vicar paled and stumbled backward until he fell into the closest pew, but Ryan wasn’t done with him yet. He stepped closer and bent over until the vicar looked him in the eye.
“Marry Sian Mullen to anybody and I shall have you arrested where you stand, do you hear me?” he hissed.
The vicar nodded.
“What do you know about Cedrick Aldover and Wilhelmina Mullen?”
“Cedrick Aldover?” The bride’s father interrupted.
“Do you know him?” Ryan’s voice was clipped but he made no apology for it.
“He owes the owner of the Dog and Duck a fortune,” the man replied. “I hear Aldover also has gambling debts he can’t pay off. People are after him, and they ain’t the kind of people you cross, if you know what I mean?”
“It’s unsurprising you want to stop the wedding, sir,” the man’s wife piped up as she made her way down the aisle to join the conversation. “He is a scoundrel, and not the kind of person you should allow into your mansion, if you don’t mind me saying so?”
“Not at all. What do you know about Wilhelmina Mullen?” Ryan described her. “She is always out and about with him. If you have seen Cedrick, you will have seen her.”
“She is no better. I hear she got kicked out of that house of hers for not paying the rent. She also owes people a fortune. I heard they had left town because they feared what would happen if they didn’t pay up, and they can’t pay up. Neither of them has a penny to their name.”
“So, they went to Arthur’s to leech of them,” Norman whispered.
Ryan nodded.
“Sian is their meal ticket,” Norman added.
“But Arthur cannot afford to pay both of their debts, even if Cedrick was married to Sian.”
“No, but he would be duty bound to accommodate everyone. He isn’t going to throw his daughter out on the street, or her husband, is he? He would cast out of society and ruined for life,” Norman countered.
“If I would be so bold as to give you a word of advice, sir? Go and speak to the magistrate. I hear he is after them for failure to pay their debts,” the man offered.
“Father?” The bride shifted impatiently. She looked about to burst into tears. When Ryan looked at her, she dutifully dipped into a curtsey but couldn’t stop her chin from quivering.
“I apologise for interrupting your special day. You must understand that Cedrick is trying to force a marriage to someone of a better class than he. I think it is to try to keep himself out of gaol. If he does turn up here, with a reluctant and very angry young woman, make sure he is not able to marry her. You will have my upmost gratitude.”
The father of the bride nodded emphatically. The ripple of murmurs which flittered around the congregation were all agreeable. The fact that there wasn’t even a murmur of discontent was enough to warn Ryan that neither Cedrick nor Wilhelmina were popular in the area. It was enough to know that neither Cedrick nor Wilhelmina would get any help from anybody linked to that particular church now.
Ryan and Norman strode out of the church leaving the shaken vicar to continue with the service. Together, they stared at the empty street before Ryan remembered the grocery.
