33
EPILOGUE
Two Months Later
The planning permission for the lake had taken longer than they’d hoped, and opening at the beginning of June was looking unlikely. It was frustrating, but Archie and Nora were living in a bubble of bliss now that they’d embarked on planning to renovate the stable block, so to them it hardly mattered. Seb, however, who was hoping to have squared away the lake project before he had to start working full time on this summer’s Croftwood Festival, was a ball of anxiety.
‘We’re going to end up opening on the same weekend as the bloody festival at this rate,’ he said to Archie in the middle of May.
‘If it comes to that, we’ll have to manage without you,’ Archie said, pragmatically.
‘No. You won’t. No offence, Arch, but your mind’s not on the job anymore.’
It was a fair point. Archie and Nora, who was past the twelve-week point of her pregnancy and starting to feel better, had understandably been concentrating on getting the plans for renovating the stables finalised so that when the planning permission finally came through, they could start right away. Although they had continued to live between Nora’s cottage and the Court, Constance was increasingly vocal about the fact they were having a baby out of wedlock, and it was becoming difficult for them both. Archie felt guilty about spending more time at Nora’s and leaving his mother alone, but he’d had enough of hearing about how he was wiping away his family’s legacy. Abandoning the title.
‘Why don’t we open for an evening, have practice run?’ Archie suggested. ‘Everything’s ready to go, isn’t it? We can mock-up the opening using friends and family as guinea pigs.’
‘I suppose so,’ Seb said. ‘It makes sense to have a dry run. Iron out any kinks.’
Later that afternoon, Archie and Nora were sitting in the sunshine on the patio at the back of the cottage.
‘I think we should get married,’ Nora said.
‘Where has that come from?’ Archie asked. ‘I thought we’d decided on the civil partnership.’
‘I’ve been thinking about it and it’s not right for me to be the one deciding that our baby doesn’t inherit the title.’
Archie was surprised at how much it meant to him to hear Nora say that, but he needed to be certain it was what she wanted. ‘We could wait to find out whether the baby is a girl or a boy. If it’s a girl, there’s no need to get married. It won’t change anything.‘
‘Archie. You keep telling me that it doesn’t matter to you. But it does. And you’re willing to sacrifice all of that for me. But it’s not right to take that away from our child. Whether they’re a boy or a girl, they should be part of your family. Properly. And if it is a boy, inheriting the title isn’t going to mean the same thing for him as it did for you. It doesn’t have to be something that defines him or limits the kind of life he wants to have. Either way, they belong to your legacy. I want to get married.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ he said, with tears of happiness in his eyes. He slipped out of his chair and knelt at her feet. ‘I’ve always wanted to do this,’ he said, as she laughed at him in delight.
‘I don’t mind at all.’ Her eyes were full of tears as well.
‘Nora Hartford. I want to marry you more than anything in the world. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife, my partner in life and love?’
‘Yes, Archie Harrington! Yes!’
They chose the summer solstice as the date for the dry run of the lake opening. Everyone was invited. In all, they were expecting around fifty people, which made Archie and Seb nervous, but it was important to know that they could deal with that many cars, that many people changing, swimming and warming-up afterwards.
‘Seb, the planners want a meeting with us in town this afternoon at one,’ Archie said, finding Seb in the Finnish barbecue hut putting the finishing touches to the grill.
‘Today? Christ.’ Seb ran his hands through his hair. ‘Fine. I’ll meet you at the estate office at half twelve.’
‘Can I meet you there? I’ll be in town already. I promised Mama a lift to Jess’s at noon.’
Archie was waiting outside the council offices ready to intercept Seb. He spotted him striding across the car park looking harried, and felt a little guilty.
‘Come on then. Let’s hope it’s good news,’ Seb said.
‘Actually, we’re not here for a meeting with the planning office. I’m getting married.’
‘What? Now?’
‘Yes, now. I was hoping you’d return the favour and be my best man.’
Seb was very rarely lost for words, and Archie couldn’t help but grin. ‘But… I’m wearing dirty jeans.’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘And you’re wearing jeans. You can’t get married in jeans.’
‘It’s fine,’ said Archie, putting an arm around his friend. ‘Come on.’
Nora and Hilary were waiting in the foyer, similarly underdressed for a wedding.
‘I imagine this was as much a surprise for you as it was for me,’ Hilary said to Seb.
‘You can say that again. I didn’t think you two were into the whole marriage thing.’
‘It’s just a formality,’ Nora said. We didn’t want a fuss. ‘We thought the solstice swim tonight would be a lovely way to celebrate it, though.’
Seb grinned. ‘The solstice swim is your bloody wedding reception? What is Constance going to say about that?’
‘Constance will find out as soon as we’ve finished here and hopefully she’ll be so relieved we’re married, she won’t care that the reception is in a barbecue hut,’ said Nora.
‘I wish you’d warned us,’ Hilary said. ‘Look at the state of Seb, and I’m wearing my shop flip-flops.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Nora, beaming. ‘It really is just a formality for us. The bare minimum, purely to give the baby everything it deserves.’
‘And because we love each other,’ Archie reminded her.
‘That too,’ she said, kissing him.
‘Harrington and Hartford?’
‘That’s us,’ said Archie to the woman dressed more smartly than any of the wedding party.
Seb and Jack were stationed at the new entrance, directing cars where to park. The small dedicated parking area was full, but there was plenty of room on the grass either side of the estate road, which was fine since the ground was dry and meant a short walk back to the ticket office.
One of Val’s teenage daughters was in the office signing people in, because although it was free to swim tonight, they needed to keep strict records of who was there for safety reasons. The only person to have flouted this was Constance, who had arrived on foot from the Court, accompanied by her new daughter-in-law, bypassing the official entrance.
‘We ought to have a proper party at the Court,’ Constance said as Nora led her to the area they’d set up with benches and chairs on the far side of the dock, away from the route between the changing canopy and the steps into the lake.
‘This is all we want, Constance. A celebration with our friends at the place we met.’
‘There is a certain romance to that,’ Constance admitted. ‘I would have liked a big wedding. I would have liked to have been there,’ she said, pointedly, ‘but I’m grateful you’ve done the right thing.’
As much as Nora wanted to point out that her reasons for agreeing to the marriage weren’t to do with preserving the hereditary title for its own sake, but simply because she wanted to give Archie everything he deserved. Whatever he said, it mattered to him and so, she came to realise, it mattered to her. Being married didn’t have to mean that she was losing anything because it all came down to what the marriage meant to the two of them. And what it meant for both of them was security for their child. So she said nothing. Constance would never understand how important her independence was, and that was okay. But Nora knew now that being independent didn’t mean being alone.
‘Thank you.’
‘And you’ll be Lady Harrington as well, now.’
‘Oh, no. I’ll be sticking with Nora Hartford.’
Constance looked aghast, but perhaps realised that she’d already won the biggest battle. ‘If that’s what you want.’
Before they’d even known it was a celebration, Jess and Seb had gone all out to make the lakeside look spectacular. They’d tied bunting from the trees to the corner of the roof of the Finnish hut and to the roof of the changing canopy. Fire pits were dotted along the lakeside surrounded by logs for people to sit on, and Oliver was setting up a trestle table where people could pick up food to toast on the fire, or cook on the grill in the Finnish hut. Everything from a simple slice of bread to crumpets, teacakes and sausages and burgers. There was something for everyone. Big plastic tubs filled with ice and cans of soft drinks were also dotted around since swimming and alcohol weren’t a mix they wanted to encourage, but nobody minded that at all.
‘Are you coming in?’ Nora asked Constance.
‘Not on your nelly! I’ve brought my knitting,’ she said, patting the bag on her shoulder. ‘I’ll join Penny and Mary over there. We much prefer to watch.’
Nora slipped her dry robe off and headed over to the steps, looking out for Archie but not seeing him anywhere. The water was so warm now that she had abandoned her gloves and socks, and it was possible to dip straight in and start swimming. There were quite a few people in the water. The day had been sunny and hot, so it was the perfect evening to enjoy a swim. Nora swam around to the far side of the island.
‘Hey!’ She turned towards where the voice had come from, the island, which was a sea of greenery as yet untouched since they were still waiting for the bridge to be completed.
Archie was leaning against the trunk of a weeping willow in his swimming trunks, almost hidden from sight by its branches that swept down towards the water. He moved towards the edge and reached out a hand to her. Nora had swum around the island many times, but never gone onto it. She placed her feet down onto the silky mud at the bottom of the lake and found that the water was only thigh deep at the edge. She took Archie’s hand, placed a foot on the island and he helped her out of the water, handing her a towel.
‘What are you doing over here?’
‘Waiting for my wife,’ he said, smiling as he took her face in his hands and kissed her.
Nora didn’t think she’d ever seen him look so happy. And she felt the same way. It was ridiculous that a piece of paper they’d spent ten minutes obtaining that afternoon could shift the way you felt.
After a moment more of kissing, Archie led her further onto the island.
‘When did you do this?’ Nora said in delight as they came to an old-fashioned canvas A-frame tent with the flaps tied open, revealing an inviting-looking bed, covered in blankets and cushions. It looked as if Archie had raided the airing cupboards in the Court.
‘A couple of days ago while you were in Stoke. I was hoping the weather would be kind to us and that we might spend our wedding night out here. What do you think?’
‘I love it,’ said Nora, crawling inside and lying on the bed. It smelled of freshly washed linen and was gloriously squashy. ‘How did you get all of this stuff over here?’
‘I bought a blow-up boat. One of those you find at the seaside.’
‘And how many trips did it take?’
He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Quite a few.’
‘It’s perfect. I can’t wait.’
Archie lay down on the bed next to her. ‘How does it feel to be Lady Harrington?’
‘It feels wonderful, actually,’ Nora said, surprised to find herself saying that. ‘I can’t believe how amazing it feels to be married. I thought it was a formality, but it feels more significant than that.’
‘I can’t tell you how much it means to me,’ Archie said, squeezing her hand.
‘Have you told Betsy yet?’ They’d invited Betsy and Caspar for the evening but hadn’t let on that it was more than just a dry run for the lake.
‘No. I decided to wait until they arrive.’
‘Come on,’ Nora said, sitting up and making her way out into the sunshine. ‘I’m starving. I need my husband to cook me a sausage.’
They lowered themselves back into the lake, which felt a little fresher since they’d warmed themselves in the sun and swam back around to the steps. Nora grabbed her towel and dried herself off before putting her dry robe on.
‘Where did you two disappear to?’ Seb said, handing them both a can of lemonade. ‘It’s time for my best man’s speech.’
Before either of them could say anything, Seb had climbed onto the dock and shouted for everyone’s attention.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he began. ‘You may not know, but tonight we are celebrating more than Croftwood lake being ready to open as soon as the planners give us the thumbs up.’ Seb raised his can to Ben, who was there with Lou.
‘Any day!’ Ben shouted, and everyone cheered.
‘Today, I was best man for my friend and colleague, Archie.’
There were gasps of surprise, and everyone started talking. Nora and Archie grinned at each other, quite enjoying Seb revealing their secret.
‘So tonight we’re celebrating the marriage of Archie and Nora in the place where it all started, a few months ago. I know they were hoping to keep this on the down-low, but if you’re anything like me, I’m sure you all feel like this is something worth celebrating. Archie’s been there for me since I moved to Croftwood and seeing him and Nora find each other when neither of them was looking, well, it warms my heart.’
Everyone cheered and clapped. The people nearest Archie and Nora patted them, and Val came over to give Nora a kiss. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!’ she said. ‘You dark horse!’ she said, kissing Archie on the cheek.
‘To Lord and Lady Harrington!’ Seb shouted.
‘To Lord and Lady Harrington!’
The End