AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sydney grinned. She wasn’t certain she could have waited to find out what was happening either. “Men came here today looking for me.”
“You think your parents sent them?”
“I’m sure of it. So, I need to be married. If I’m married, then they can’t force me to go back to Beckham.” Sydney dug through her trunk, finding her wedding dress, which had been carefully wrapped with tissue paper so it wouldn’t wrinkle. “Besides, my mother won’t want me back if I’m married. No one will want to marry someone who’s been married before. Well, no one she wants me to marry.”
Susan shook her head. “I’m so glad you got away from her!” She gasped as Sydney pulled the gown from the trunk and held it in front of her. “That is the most beautiful wedding dress I have ever seen. I’ve noticed the trend has been white dresses lately. Did you want a white wedding dress?”
“What I want just didn’t seem to matter. Queen Victoria was married in white, and so I will be married in white.”
“Well, I guess that settles it. Let’s get you dressed.”
Thirty minutes later, Sydney stood in her wedding gown gazing into the mirror in her small room. Susan had fixed her hair atop her head, and she felt like she was about to be paraded in front of many men at a ball.
“I hate looking like this,” Sydney said.
“Do you want me to change something?” Susan asked. “You look beautiful.”
Sydney frowned. “No, don’t change anything. This is how my mother always wanted me to look. I wanted to wear my bloomers.”
Susan laughed. “You really can wear your bloomers here, just probably not to church.”
Sydney’s response was laughter. “Oh, even I wouldn’t dare wear bloomers to church!”
A knock on the door revealed one of Susan’s older daughters. “The preacher is here.”
Susan took Sydney by the shoulders. “You’re going to be so happy with Lewis. I promise!”
“I just hope he’s happy with me.” Sydney wasn’t certain she had the right skills to be a housewife. She’d learn though.
Susan went ahead of her, and she slowly walked down the stairs, careful to not step on the long train of the dress. She hadn’t wanted a train, but her mother had insisted. As usual.
When she got to the parlor where the family had gathered for their small wedding, she grinned at Alice, who was there with everyone else. Someone must have gone to fetch her, which thrilled Sydney. She hadn’t thought of it until that moment, but she did want her friend there with her.
Stopping at Lewis’s side, she smiled up at him. He was a good man, and she was going to be the best wife she knew how to be.
The ceremony was short and simple. When the preacher said, “You may kiss the bride,” Sydney was a bit stunned it was over so quickly. She raised her lips for Lewis’s kiss and giggled when he bent her back over his arm with their first kiss as a married couple.
There were cheers from the family, and she turned and locked her eyes with Susan’s. “Thank you!”
“I just wished we’d made a big cake today instead of pie,” Susan said, sighing. “Pastor, would you like some pie before Walter takes you home?”
“I wondered which twin it was who came for me. Thank you, Walter,” the pastor said, looking at Walter. “Now I know who came for me, I can tell you apart by your shirts. It’s harder when you dress the same for church on Sundays.” Then he looked over at Susan. “I think I’d enjoy a piece of pie. My wife is visiting her mother this month, and as much as I enjoy eating what the ladies in church bring to me, I do miss my wife’s pies.”
Sydney wondered if some day, she would be away from Lewis, and he would miss something she cooked for him. She hoped so, but she thought not. Her cooking skills would have to improve dramatically before then. She had a feeling Lewis wouldn’t like peanut butter and jelly too often, and it was one of the few meals she knew how to make.
Following everyone back into the dining room, they ate the third and fourth pies she and Susan had made that day. There was an apple and a cherry, and though she preferred cherry, Sydney chose the apple. She didn’t want to get cherry all over her wedding dress. No, she’d pack that right back into her trunk so her daughter could wear it someday. But only if she wanted to.
After the pie and coffee, Walter left to take the pastor home. Albert and Thomas were tasked with carrying Sydney’s trunk to Lewis’s house. After they’d gone, Lewis looked at Sydney. “Are you ready to go?”
“I should change into another dress. I don’t want to get grass stains on my wedding dress.”
He frowned at her. “Why? You planning on wearing it again?”
She laughed. “No, I was hoping our daughter would wear it someday.”
“I like that idea. You look absolutely beautiful tonight. Have I told you that yet?”
Sydney shook her head. “I hope you see more than just my face.”
