Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
When it was time for the speeches, Heather waited her turn nervously.
After the ceremony, Heather and Matty had led everyone out into a large marquee that had been put up outside the ballroom, where everyone was served drinks and nibbles.
A string quartet played classical music in the corner, and a couple of roving photographers snapped casual photos of the wedding guests.
I’m married, she kept thinking to herself. I am a married woman.
From now on, she was part of a team. She and Matty were one in the eyes of the law; a sacred union, a two-person entity that everyone now recognised as united, merged, together. It was a strange feeling. She’d dreamed about it all of her life, and now it was here, in the sudden blink of an eye.
The ceremony had been so quick. That was what she remembered most about it.
The celebrant had tied their hands together with a green ribbon and they’d said their vows to each other.
She’d rehearsed hers, and when she’d heard her own voice repeating them in the hush of the ballroom, she’d almost felt as if it was someone else.
She heard her own words echo against the cavernous walls: I promise to love you.
I promise to listen to you. I promise to be your peace when the world is chaos.
Heather had meant those words. She hoped that she would always mean them as much as she did in that moment. She hoped that Matty would always mean what he’d said: I will always consider your feelings. I will always hold you and keep you safe. I will be faithful to our love.
She wondered if she would ever have thought about hoping their vows remained true if it wasn’t for Blossom and what she was going through with Tom.
Heather didn’t resent knowing about her sister’s situation in the slightest; she only felt sad for Blossom. But the knowledge did somewhat colour the way she thought about marriage in general – not that Blossom and Tom had ever got formally married.
Marriage was an act of faith, it seemed. And Heather was realising that it might take strength to maintain in the long term. As Heather watched Matty move among the crowd, talking to guests, posing for pictures, and as she looked at their parents, she thought, I hope we have what it takes.
She thought that they did. She had faith. That was what she kept coming back to.
After an hour, everyone came back into the ballroom, which had been reconfigured by Elizabeth’s event planning team to a sit-down dinner layout.
‘I never intended tae be the father o’ six daughters,’ Angus Balhennie began, standing up and addressing the room.
‘Much less, the father o’ the bride. I hope I can keep it together.
’ He was tearing up already: Heather knew that her dad was a crier.
There were a few gentle laughs from the attendees, many of whom also knew that about Angus.
‘I’ll keep this short. First, I want tae welcome Matty intae the Balhennie clan.
He’s a good fella, an’ I know he adores Heather.
That’s the main thing for me. Second, to say thank you all for comin’ to the weddin’ o’ the year!
’ he chuckled, and there were more laughs from the crowd.
‘Ah, but seriously. There’s been a bit o’ kerfuffle over this weddin’, but I couldnae be happier wi’ the way it’s all worked out.
Many thanks go to my cousin, the laird, James Balhennie, for lettin’ us have the castle for Heather’s special day. I appreciate it.’
Angus raised a glass to his cousin, who looked surprised and pleased; James raised his glass back.
‘Slainte Mhath,’ James toasted; the crowd followed suit.
‘Finally,’ – Angus’s voice wavered, and he wiped his eyes with his sleeve – ‘I want tae tell all my daughters how much I love them. Not just Heather, even though it’s her special day.
But all o’ you.’ Angus blew his nose. ‘Sorry. Waterworks have started, aye. I’m so very, very proud o’ you all, my wonderful girls.
Bein’ your dad has been and will continue to be the highest honour of my life.
The biggest challenge, an’ the biggest honour. ’
‘We love you too, Dad,’ Bluebell called out, from further down the table where all the family were seated. Angus blew her a kiss.
‘An’ Heather. My sweet girl. Let me tell you a little bit about Heather.
’ Angus met his daughter’s eyes, mistily.
‘From the time she was a tiny girl, my Heather cared about animals. She wanted tae save every snail and worm in the garden. We built bug hotels for the beetles, we fed the birds, we saved stray cats an’ sponsored monkeys an’ elephants.
She cares. She’d cry her heart out if she heard about an animal bein’ mistreated.
So, when she got tae be old enough tae start workin’, we knew that it was goin’ tae be animals, somehow. ’
Angus paused for a moment.
‘But what I also want tae say about Heather is how strong she is. Ah, she may seem like a gentle soul, an’ she is.
She wouldnae hurt a fly. However,’ – Angus tapped the table in front of him for emphasis – ‘never think that the gentle souls aren’t ready to fight for what they believe in.
Heather will stand up for what she believes is right, an’ I admire that more than I can ever say.
To Heather!’ He raised his glass, wiping tears from his eyes.
‘Heather!’ the ballroom of people toasted her, and she felt herself blushing.
‘Now, we have a speech from the bride,’ Angus added, tapping his glass before sitting down. ‘Go on, sweet girl.’
Heather had prepared some notes for her speech; they sat on the table in front of her.
She’d written notes to herself to compliment her sisters and thank everyone who had helped with the wedding, and, most of all, tell Matty how much she loved him in front of everyone.
That was all customary, and it was definitely important.
But what her dad had said about standing up for what she believed was right was true, and there was something else that she needed to say.
She stood up, to a cheer from the room. She smiled, shyly, and gave everyone a little wave.
‘Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming,’ she began.
‘Thank you, Dad, for such a lovely speech. I have a lot of thank-yous to get to, and I will in a moment, including to you and Mum for literally everything in my life so far.’ The crowd laughed affectionately and clapped. Heather waited for the quiet to return.
‘You may all have seen some stories in the press about the Campbell family and the Balhennies, leading up to the wedding.’ Heather put down her notes and looked out onto the sea of faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, before her.
‘I wanted to talk briefly about my great-aunt Chrissie.
As you may have read in the papers, Auntie was a model in the 1970s, and as part of that she engaged in some topless modelling.
‘The reason I’m bringing this up today, at my wedding, is because I was always taught that it’s important to believe in things, and to stand up for what you believe in.
Of all people, I believe in my great-aunt, and all my family.
I was lucky to be born into a group of people who are all fantastically strong, supportive and brilliant in their own ways.
‘My great-aunt was vilified in the newspapers because of her modelling, and that made me angry. I’m not someone who gets angry very often.
I don’t like it. I’m a romantic. I wish the world could just be harmonious and beautiful, and I wish that we could all love each other.
That’s partially why I always wanted a big white wedding like this.
Because it’s a celebration of love and family.
‘However, I was angry about that article. And the reason for me being angry was that the person who wrote that article and dug up those photos wasn’t respecting my aunt’s wishes.
She wasn’t asked if she wanted pictures from her past plastered all over the newspapers.
Consent is not something that, if given once, lasts forever.
Aunt Chrissie might have been okay with those pictures being in newspapers and magazines and posters, once upon a time, but I don’t think she really ever expected to be the subject of press attention at the age of seventy-five. ’
‘I’m not ashamed of them, Heather!’ Aunt Chrissie called out.
‘Oh, I know you’re not, Auntie!’ Heather beamed over at her aunt.
‘Neither am I. We’re all so proud of you!
My point is that the journalist could have approached you and asked to do a piece about your past, and you could have talked it over.
But they just did it without your consent, and made out that your modelling was something to be ashamed of. And it’s not.
‘The newspaper piece about Aunt Chrissie was designed to shame. It was aimed at shaming the Campbells and us. The implication was that Aunt Chrissie’s pictures were something awful.
That by sharing that story and those pictures, the press wanted to bring the Campbells down a peg or two. But we simply don’t believe that.
‘Those pictures show that Aunt Chrissie was a strong woman, pursuing a successful career, and being in control of her own body. She was happy and secure in being a sexy young woman.’ Heather held up her finger, to emphasise the point.
‘She was beautiful. She made money from her beauty and her sexual allure.
That is not, and will never be, shameful.
I, as a woman, refuse to accept that judgement.
‘I am standing here in my wedding dress, in my white dress, symbolic of purity. And I am so very happy to be marrying this wonderful man today. But I am a flesh and blood woman. The idea that a woman has to be “pure” to be of value is one thousand per cent not what I stand here for today. The white is traditional. The white can mean a new start for me, a blank slate for me to write my future on. But I write it. I am an independent woman, making a choice about her future. That’s what today is. A choice, and faith.’
Heather paused and looked around her.
‘I am one of six sisters. My uncle James calls us the Princesses of Balhennie.’ Heather indicated her sisters, sitting watching her.
‘Well, I would suggest that we are all queens. And that every woman in this room is a queen. And that if anyone tries to treat us as less than that, we will revolt. We will push back. We will stand up for ourselves. And the men in our lives should make it their mission to stand with us.’
Heather took a long breath and let it out.
She hadn’t intended to be so political or strident; it was unlike her.
But ever since that article had come out in the newspaper, it had been playing on her mind.
This was what she had wanted to say, all this time.
She turned to Matty, who stared up at her with a mixture of awe and surprise on his face.
‘I love you, honey,’ she said, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. ‘I want to build a family and a life with you. I want us to spend our lives helping animals and protecting the land. I will do it with love. And I will fiercely protect everything and everyone I love. For always.’