I hated him for being so in love with her.
It came time for little Troy to produce the
wedding ring. In his excitement, he rushed to bring it
out of his pocket and dropped it. The tiny clang
seemed to echo through the great entry hall and
everyone in the audience gasped simultaneously so
that it sounded like a giant intake of breath. I saw that
Troy was about to cry, but Tony picked up the ring
quickly and gave it to him to hand it back. Momma
flashed a look of anger and then quickly reverted to
her smile.
The rings were presented, the final words were
said, and the minister pronounced them man and wife.
They kissed and the audience cheered. Momma threw
her enormous bouquet at the bridesmaids and it fell
right into the hands of Nancy Kinney, the most homely looking of all the bridesmaids. Then she and Tony made their way back through the appreciative
crowd of guests and the reception began.
I brought punch and hors d'oeuvres to Grandma
Jana, who sat in the music room and greeted people.
Troy remained close to me most of the time, a little
scared by the crowd and the activity. Two
photographers wandered through the house taking
pictures for the wedding album. A number were taken
of Troy and me standing together, both of us looking
wide-eyed and uncomfortable, me still clinging to my
bouquet of sweetheart roses.
Soon after, the great banquet hall was opened
and the guests were drawn in by the music of the
orchestra. When most everyone was in the room, the
conductor stopped his orchestra and went to the
microphone to announce the wedding party. First all
the bridesmaids entered and then Troy followed. After
a short drumroll, Momma and Tony entered arm in
arm, Momma's face sparkling with excitement. The
applause rose to a crescendo and cameras clicked.
Momma and Tony took the center of the dance floor
and the orchestra began to play a waltz. They danced
as though they had been dancing together all their
lives.
As they turned and moved gracefully to the
music, I couldn't help wondering what my wedding
day would be like. Would I have a grand affair like
this: a full orchestra, hundreds of guests, tons of food,
and a horde of servants? If Momma had her way, I
would. Maybe I would even be married here,
following the Tatterton tradition, which was now to
become my tradition, too. Would my husband be as
handsome and as debonair as Tony? Would I be
deeply in love or would Momma find me some
wealthy aristocrat and convince me to marry him? And when I put on my wedding gown, would I
look anything like Momma did? I saw the awe and the
envy in the eyes of the other women as she and Tony
danced. Not a strand of her gold hair was out of place;
her complexion was perfect. She looked like a
goddess, like a statue of Aphrodite come to life. After a while other couples joined Momma and
Tony on the dance floor, and the reception was in full
swing. Champagne bubbled all around me. I had two
glasses and felt a little dizzy.
I was glad when Troy found me and pumped
my hand, urging me to follow him to "see something."
With the music, the conversations, the tinkle of
champagne glasses, and the peals of laughter trailing behind us, we slipped out of the ballroom and down the corridor to a sitting room in the rear. Troy pushed opened the double doors. The floor of the room was inundated with wedding gifts, some piled three or four
feet high.
"Look at all of it!" he exclaimed. "Tony said we
can help open everything up later."
I could only nod in awe. There was so much.
Troy marched through the corridors of gifts, touching
some, gently tapping on others and then placing his
face against the sides of the boxes to listen and get a
clue about the contents of each. I laughed and shook
my head.
"Are you happy, Troy? Happy now that your
brother has a wife and my mother will be living here
with him?" He stopped his inspection of the wedding
gifts and glanced at me with dark eyes and a somber
face. "Troy? You're not happy?"
He was still silent.
"But why not?"
"Your mommy doesn't like me," he said,
looking as though he would cry.
"What? Why do you say that, Troy?" He
shrugged. "Tell me, please."
"She looks at me with growls in her eyes," he
said quickly. "Growls? What's growls?"
He growled like a dog.
"Oh." I started to laugh, but saw he was very
serious.
"Oh, I'm sure she doesn't mean that, Troy. It's
just that . . just that she's never had a little boy before.
She's only had me and she's not used to little boys.
After a while she will get used to you and you will get
used to her."
He shrugged again, but I saw from the
expression on his face that he wasn't very hopeful. "I'm sorry you're not happy about your brother's
marriage, Troy."
"I'm happy! You're here now, right?" "Yes. I'm here now."
"So, I'm happy," he repeated, clapping his little
hands. "I'm glad about that," I said. "In fact, that's the
thing that makes me most happy, too." I knelt down
and hugged him.
"Come on," he said heading for the door. "Let's
get back to the party. We'll miss the cake."
I glanced back once more at the mountains of
gifts and then returned with him to the ballroom. A special table was rolled to the center. On it
was a sky-high wedding cake with the figures of the bride and groom dancing under the word
CONGRATULATIONS. Momma and Tony were brought to the cake for the traditional cutting of the first piece. Momma sliced it carefully and fed it to Tony, who tried desperately to maintain some dignity as Momma stuffed the extra-large slice into his mouth, but the creamy icing splattered down his chin and over his tuxedo jacket. Everyone laughed and cheered. I was going to join Grandma Jana to have my
piece, but suddenly Momma took hold of my arm. "It has gone well, hasn't it?" She looked about
proudly. "These people will never forget it. They'll be
talking about it forever. How's your grandmother
doing?" she asked, gazing at Grandma Jana, who was
in deep conversation with another woman her age. "She seems to be having a good time." "I'll rest easier when she goes back to Texas.
Who knows what she's saying to these people." I
wondered if Momma feared Grandma Jana would tell
me the truth about her past. She turned back to me.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Momma."
"You look sad. How can anyone look sad at an
occasion like this?" She paused and sighed. "Still
worrying about everything, aren't you? Can't help but take after your father, I suppose." I couldn't help wincing. She could lie with such sincerity. Maybe because she had been doing it for so long, I thought. But how long could I keep what I knew to myself?
"Come with me," she said suddenly.
"What?"
"Just follow me. Quickly. I want to show you
somet
hing." She took my hand and led me out of the
ballroom. We went to the stairway and up the stairs
quickly.
"Where are we going?"
"To my suite," she said. When we arrived, she
went to her wall safe. "I had Tony install this for my
jewels," she explained, "and," she added turning back
to me, a wry smile on her face, "my documents." "Documents?"
She just continued to smile impishly and
opened her safe. Then she reached in and produced a
very important-looking file. Inside were three pages
of long paper clipped together. She handed it to me
and I read the title: "A Prenuptial Agreement." "What is this?" I asked.
"It's a contract between Tony and me," she said
proudly. "I had my attorney prepare it."
"A contract?"
"Yes. If we should divorce, for any reason," she
said pointing to some words in the second paragraph
of the first page, "I get half of what he is worth. Half!"
she repeated. "Half of all this," she said extending her
arms. "You can read it right there," she added pointing
to the papers in my hands. I looked down at them, but
the words were gibberish to me, not only because I
didn't understand the "Whereas's" and "Resolved's,"
but because it was so shocking to learn that Momma
and Tony's love affair was written down in legal
language like a deed to a house.
"I don't understand, Momma. Why do you need
this?"
"Insurance," she said taking the papers back,
obviously not pleased with my confusion. She
restored them to her wall safe. After she closed it, she
turned back to me. "There is no man in the world I
would trust. Absolutely none. I thought I had taught
you that."
"But aren't you in love with Tony?"
"Of course, I'm in love with him. What's that
got to do with it?"
"But if you're in love, why do you need such a
contract?" was still dumbfounded.
"Honestly, Leigh. For an A-plus student, you act so stupid sometimes. I told you . . never trust a man, no matter what. I love Tony and he loves me, but that doesn't mean that some time later on, he might not do something to displease me or manufacture something I supposedly did to displease him, just so he could get his way with me. This is insurance," she said pointing to the safe. "He knows he can't send me packing without losing half of what
he has and that helps to keep a man under control. "I wanted to show you this now to make you
feel better about the future. You will have everything
now, Leigh. You don't have anything to worry about
anymore."
"But wasn't Tony upset when you asked for
this?"
"He was, but he loves me so much, he
swallowed whatever bad feelings he had about it," she
said proudly. "That's why I love him--I'm the most
important thing in his life. Understand?"
I didn't know what to say. I had thought love
meant trust. Were you really in love if you had to
have lawyers and judges looking over your shoulders? "So, now that you know everything, you can be
happy, too," she said. "Come on. We've got to get
back to the reception. I've instructed the servants to hand out the Tatterton memento now and I want to see the looks on the faces of the guests when they each
receive one.
"Be happy, Leigh. Please. Just for one day, put
aside any dark thoughts and be happy for me." "I'll be happy for you, Momma." She brushed a
quick kiss on my cheek, then we hurried downstairs. I
was stunned by Momma's revelation. Was everything
good and true and honest only in storybooks? Nothing
seemed to be what it appeared to be. Life was as
complicated as . . as the maze outside. No wonder it's
so easy to get lost, I thought.
Grandma Jana left just before the wedding
reception actually ended. She was anxious to get back
to her home in Texas, even though everyone treated
her like a queen here. Tony had arranged for Miles to
drive her to the airport. I walked out to the awaiting
limousine with her, since Momma was too busy to say
a proper goodbye.
"Goodbye, Grandma," I said. "Have a good trip
home."
She stood there staring at me thoughtfully, and
then she hugged me to her so tightly, she nearly took
my breath away. She looked at me and then her eyes
narrowed and hardened. For a moment I thought she was going to tell me everything, just blurt out the truth of all of Momma's dreadful lies and why she had been upset to learn of Momma's divorce and new marriage, but her eyes softened and her grip on my
shoulders loosened.
"I hope you will be happy here, Leigh, but if for
any reason you're not, just remember, you can come
to me. I don't live as fancy as all this, but I'm quite
comfortable," she said, sounding far from the ogre
Momma often made her out to be. How much of the
rest of what Momma had told me about her early life
in Texas had really been true, I wondered.
"Thank you, Grandma."
She kissed me again and got into the limo. I
watched it go off and then went back inside. Soon
after, guests began to leave.
I heard Momma call my name and saw Tony
and her coming down the stairway together. Momma's
heels clicked on the marble stairs. How worldly and
confident she appeared as she sauntered down arm in
arm with Tony. She was wearing her black wool crepe
suit trimmed with a mink collar and cuffs. From
beneath her jacket peeked a white chiffon blouse that
glittered. In contrast to all this darkness, Momma's
face was dazzling to behold. She seemed a diamond
set against black velvet.
Tony wore a black leather jacket and a bright
white scarf. Just like Momma, he appeared fresh and
alert. I imagined they were both still buoyed by the
day's excitement and the excitement yet to come.
They both looked so young and alive and so very
happy together.
"Can you believe it's over?" Momma asked.
"You are now looking at Mr. and Mrs. Tony
Tatterton. How do we look together, Leigh?" She
squeezed herself up against Tony.
"Wonderful," I said, in as excited a voice as I
could manage, but Momma wasn't satisfied. Her smile
wilted.
"Well, we're off. You have everything you need
and need to know. I wish I could be here with you
Christmas morning when you open your presents, but
I know you understand."
"Try to keep Troy from opening them until
Christmas morning," said Momma's handsome new
husband, with his eyes that followed me everywhere
and his smile that seemed to mock and know so much. "You promised him he could open the wedding
gifts," I reminded Tony, my own eyes breaking the
stare between us.
"We were going to do that when we got back
from our honeymoon," Momma groaned. "He'll just
have to wait."
"Oh, I don't see how it could hurt if he unwraps
some," Tony relented. "Just don't let him make a mess
of it."
"He's sure to
, being a little boy," Momma
complained. "Oh well, I don't want to think of
anything that's the slightest bit unpleasant right now.
Goodbye, Leigh honey." She embraced me and even
with all my pent-up anger I hugged her back tightly,
with a ferocity that I think surprised her. All of a
sudden I didn't want her to leave, needed her in my
heart of hearts to be my mother and warm me with
hugs and kisses and little touches.
"'Have a nice Christmas and New Year's in
your new home. Don't be afraid to explore," Tony
said. "It will take you almost as long as our
honeymoon to do it."
"But please . stay out of the maze," Momma
warned.
"Okay, Momma. Have a good time," I choked
out.
"May I kiss my stepdaughter goodbye?" Tony
asked. "Goodbye, Leigh. See you soon." His long arms held me and even through the leather they felt strong and muscular. He kissed me on the cheek, but very close to the corner of my mouth. Momma seemed impressed with how long he held me and how soft and lovingly he kissed me. Then she threaded her arm through his and they were off. Curtis opened the big doors for them and then shut the doors behind
them. He nodded at me and walked away.
I heard the voices of some servants and staff
echo from the ballroom as they carried things back to
the kitchen. Doors were closed and suddenly a great
hush fell over the enormous entryway. I looked
around. It was as if all the spirits of Tattertons past
were sucked back into their portraits and eternal
places. The new silence became deafening. I gazed
out a front window and saw that the Christmas lights
were turned on. The grounds, the hedges and trees
were ablaze with reds and greens and blues. It was as
though a rainbow had shattered and bits of it had
rained down all over Farthinggale.
Mrs. Hastings came down and told me Troy
was fast asleep. She went off to join the other
members of the staff, who were, I gathered, now
having a celebration of their own and feasting on
leftovers in the kitchen.
I went to the music room where Tony had had
the ten-foot Christmas tree placed and decorated. Its
light had been turned on and it looked lovely with its
glass angel shining brightly on top. Gifts were
scattered and piled around it. There was a fire going in
the marble fireplace. The room looked all set, readymade for a family.
But where was this family and who had done
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