Fiddler's Ferry by Iris Gower

Author:Iris Gower
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The spring buds were thick and fat on the pussy willow tree, the early daffodils flaunting yellow trumpets at the unfriendly wind sweeping in from the river. It was a day of lightness and breezes, but with the softness of spring unmistakably in the air. And it was Alexander’s wedding day.

He sat in the parlour of the Ferry House, staring down at his highly polished boots. He had worked hard on those boots, spitting and rubbing with a soft rag and then applying Cherry Blossom boot polish in little circular movements until the surface was like glass.

The wedding had been delayed, for Sarah had fallen sick and it was some weeks before she was well enough to go to the chapel and take her vows. He smiled, for all she had been concerned about was her increasing size – worried that her frock would not fit her.

Around his neck the stiff shirt collar felt uncomfortable and tight; his Sunday suit, a good size too small for him, constricted his breathing. There was an emptiness inside him, a sudden feeling of gloom, for it was his twin who should be going to the altar with Sarah, not him. But he felt Hector’s approbation, saw again the tortured eyes, sensed the message in them that he, Alex, was to care for Hector’s unborn child.

The ghosts of his loved ones seemed all around him in the early morning light – mammy with her worn but smiling eyes, and clasped to her heart the baby girl who had had so little of life. He pushed himself to his feet, knowing that it was time to leave the quiet, brooding silence of the Ferry House and make his way down to the chapel, for he was becoming thoroughly miserable and it was not sensible to dwell on the past.

Howel stood before the fire-grate in the kitchen, waiting to go with Alexander and be his man at the ceremony. He had understood his younger brother’s need for a few quiet moments alone and now he smiled and moved forward to clasp Alexander to him in a rare show of affection.

‘Let the past go, boy,’ he said softly. ‘You are doing the right thing and never doubt it.’

Sitting in Howel’s gleaming car, Alex looked around him in wonder. It was a funny old world, for in a few minutes his mood had changed from the depths of gloom to a rare pitch of excitement because he was to ride to the chapel in an automobile! He recognised that there was still a great deal of the child in him yet.

‘Nervous?’ Howel asked solicitously. ‘I’d be a jibbering idiot in your place!’ He laughed and Alex glanced at him, knowing it was only a joke; he could not imagine Howel ever being afraid of anything. How he envied him!

‘Your little bride looked beautiful, mind,’ Howel said. ‘I know you haven’t been allowed to set eyes on her yet but take my word for it – she’ll knock

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.