Twenty-Three
“Get a move on,” Mrs Hopkin shouted at Teddy. Every time her back was turned he was picking at pastries in the kitchen and still hadn’t gotten dressed. “We haven't got all day.”
The farm had been alive with activity all morning as the family rushed around in preparation for Nellie’s and Gethin’s wedding, and Mrs Hopkin was buzzing from room to room trying to make sure everything was ready and in place for the day to go off without a hitch.
Teddy and I had been tasked with decorating the yard and laying out tables for the guests. With the house being too small to host a large group and the village not having any sort of community hall, the yard to the side and rear of the farmhouse was to host the reception, with the barn cleaned and swept out ready as a backup should the rain come. Luckily the hot weather of the last few days had graced us once more, and clear blue cloudless skies lay overhead.
We hung bunting in rows between the buildings around the yard and Mrs Hopkin had ensured that all the table cloths were boiled and bleached and laid out in pristine fashion across the tables, each one with a small posy of flowers picked the day before sitting atop them. All that was left to do was put out the food after the ceremony.
Mr Hopkin had risen earlier than usual and left the house for town, hitching one of the horses to the cart that we’d been expressly told was for farm use only, and leaving the rest of us to get the house in order. With less than an hour to go until we were due at the church, there was still no sign of his return and Nellie had spent the last twenty minutes shouting down the stairs in a blind panic that she would have nobody to give her away. When I walked into the kitchen her mother was shouting reassurances back up the stairs to her, but the look on her face told me she was just as concerned about his whereabouts as Nellie was.
“Are you not meeting Gethin at the pub?” Betty asked, coming into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table. She was dressed in a long white gown that had had to be taken in at the last minute to accommodate her constant weight loss, and her hair sat in a bun on top of her head, decorated with flowers and a few loose curls that fell around her cheeks. Nan had plastered her in makeup earlier in the day complaining that she looked too pale and her mother had washed it off again complaining that she looked like a ‘forward girl’.
“I’m meeting them at the church,” I replied. “Is your sister nearly ready?”
“Nan is just attaching her veil and then she will be. You’re looking very dashing, by the way.”
Not so long ago a statement like that would never have made it past her lips and she’d have flushed with embarrassment for just thinking it, but she eyed me in my attire and gave me a warm smile. I’d never been a fan of formal wear, always feeling like I looked like a child in grown-up clothing, but it did feel nice to be in something that wasn’t caked in farm debris or tearing at the seams.
Gethin had chosen for us a grey pinstripe trouser with a dark morning coat and burgundy waistcoats, finished off with top hats and cravats. Upon first seeing it I complained to Nellie that I would look like a footman but she assured me it was the height of fashion and I had to admit that once it was on and all put together it did look rather good. I was more excited, though, to see what Gwyn would be dressed like. I hadn’t ever seen him in formal wear before, except at funerals.
“If your father doesn’t hurry up and get back here, I’m going to show him the pointy end of that poker,” Mrs Hopkin said, breezing back into the kitchen from the yard.
“You’re looking very beautiful, Mrs Hopkin.” I’d never seen her so done up and with her hair neatly tied and her pink dress flowing around her she looked prettier than I’d ever seen her.
“Thank you,” she said, doing a little curtsy as the bells of the church began to chime to announce the wedding.
“That’s my sign to leave,” I said, rising to my feet.
“You can’t go without seeing Nellie first,” Betty said. “You have to wait."
“I can’t go anywhere without Teddy,” I replied. We were meant to be walking to the village together ahead of the rest of the family to meet with Gethin, but he was taking forever to get ready.
“Look at the time,” Mrs Hopkin said as she hurried off again and leaned through the kitchen door. “Teddy,” she yelled. “If I’ve got to come up there you can look out.”
“I’m here,” he said, popping his head around the door frame. “I look stupid.”
I could only see his head, but his hair, which was usually covered by a cap or ruffled up in a mess atop his head, was combed neatly with a side parting and stuck into place with pomade, giving it a greasy shine. It suited him.
“Get in here,” his mother said, and he slowly crept into view. “You look wonderful,” she added, grabbing his shoulders and kissing his cheek.
“Gerroff,” he said, wiping his face.
“You ready?” I asked him.
“No,” he replied, and though he tried to make himself look miserable he couldn’t help but smile and I had to resist the urge to scuff a hand through his neatly coiffed hair.
Pushing him to the door I grabbed my hat from the table and began to follow him out. As he reached for the handle it flung open and Mr Hopkin burst through, red-faced and panting.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and he leaned his hands down on the table to catch his breath. “Took longer than I thought.” Mrs Hopkin began to berate him but he ignored her and ran through to the sitting room. “Nellie,” he shouted up the stairs. “Come and see.”
He rushed back through to the kitchen and ushered us outside, a big grin covering his face. In the yard stood his wagon, decked out with hundreds of flowers and wrapped in pink and white ribbons. The horse attached to it had not escaped the makeover, either, with its reins adorned in bows and a halo of flowers on its head which was tilting to the side and looked ready to drop at any moment.
As soon as she saw it Mrs Hopkin let out a gasp, bringing her hands to her mouth as her eyes began to well up.
“Do you think she’ll like it?” he asked.
She threw her arms around her husband, kissed his cheek and then did a loop around the cart taking it all in. “John, it’s beautiful.”