Angels at War Read Free Page B

relieved when they all went off to the church and left her alone with Amos, who was to give her away.
    She felt oddly awkward and over-dressed in her lace wedding gown with its fussy frills and long train, being the kind of person who much preferred to be in her old gardening skirt, or out on her bicycle in bloomers. And her spirits hadn’t lifted. What was she doing? Why was she even thinking of giving up on her dream? How could she build a modern, vibrant business if she became Jack’s wife, expected to keep house and be the mother of his children, which he would undoubtedly want?
    * * *
    Amos, her usually stoic brother-in-law, sensed this fear in her but misinterpreted it. Taking her hand, he very gently kissed it. ‘My dear, you look absolutely stunning. If Jack isn’t already in love with you, he’ll fall head over heels at first sight of your incomparable beauty.’
    ‘Oh, stop your flattery! You are making me blush.’
    Amos smiled. ‘Good, a bride should be rosy-cheeked and happy on her wedding day.’
    Livia’s heart twisted with fresh doubts. ‘Oh, please don’t, Amos. Let’s go. The sooner this whole stupid performance is over, the better.’
     
    The carriage drew up outside the parish church in Kirkland, to be met by a small group of well-wishers , all with smiling faces, seemingly much happier than the bride herself. She could smell autumn leaves and that indefinable churchyard smell that so reminded her of death. Maggie had lost the will to pursue her dreams once she’d found herself pregnant by her own father, and who could blame her? She was the victim of a tragedy not of her own making. The horror of that traumatic time had left its mark on Livia. It was true what Ella said. Maggie would want her to be happy.
    Livia thought of the meeting she’d just had with the solicitor, and the new manager who had so arrogantly taken over.
    In that moment the certainty came to her that she couldn’t yet relinquish her freedom. Livia knew instinctively that when Jack slid the ring onto the third finger of her left hand, it would feel as if it were a shackle of iron instead of a band of gold.
    ‘Please, Amos, I would like you to ask Jack if he would step outside for a moment. There’s something I need to say to him.’
    Patiently waiting to help her down from the carriage, Amos looked shocked, as well he might. ‘It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony.’
    She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. ‘There isn’t going to be any ceremony. I can’t do this, Amos. I’m sorry.’
    ‘Oh, my dear girl.’
    ‘Don’t say another word. Fetch Jack.’
    It was perhaps just as well that her would- be-husband showed no sign of being overwhelmed by her ‘incomparable beauty’ as he hurried to meet her at the church gate. But then Jack Flint wasn’t the romantic type. After Livia had said her piece, he stared at her thunderstruck. ‘Say that again.’
    Livia wiped away a tear that had rolled unchecked down her cheek. ‘I’m so sorry Jack, but I can’t marry you. It’s not that I don’t love you, or want us to part. I would simply prefer for us to carry on as we are.’
    Two heartbeats passed before he responded, his face pale. ‘I thought you wanted to be respectable, and to start a family.’
    She began to unpin her veil, the rosebuds that Ella had so carefully pinned in place falling out onto the church path. The sight of the flowers brought to mind another face, one that was pale with a wide brow and long straight nose, quizzical grey eyes rimmed with green, and a shock of unruly dark brown hair. A face she shouldn’t even remember after so short an acquaintance.
    Livia took a shaky breath, all too aware of curious onlookers hovering close, deeply engrossed by this small drama. ‘You were the one wanting a family, and why should I care what people think of me when I’ve already been the subject of gossip for years? Everyone sees me as eccentric and unconventional, so