Jamie had arranged with the Canongate’s director of music for the organ to be played. There was no choir—just the simple, unadorned notes of the organ. “Bach,” he whispered to Isabel as they went in.
They met Iain at the back of the church and he led them to the altar. Witnesses were needed, and a couple of visitors were invited in from the churchyard. One was a woman who explained that she visited the churchyard every Saturday afternoon in the summer just to sit near Fergusson and look at the sky above the Carlton Hill. “It’s such a privilege to be your witness,” she said to Isabel. “Thank you.”
Isabel had taken her hand and squeezed it. “I am the one who should thank you,” she said, and thought: We should not be too surprised by the kindness of strangers, as it is always there.
A few other visitors to the church drifted up towards the front. They were welcomed with smiles from Jamie, who gestured to the empty pews, mouthing, “There’s plenty of room.” Charlie, wearing his small Macpherson kilt, seemed happy enough to sit calmly with Grace in the front pew, wondering, perhaps, what his mother and father were doing standing before a man in black and white robes who was saying something to them that he could not understand. And he did not disturb proceedings except once, very briefly, when he shouted out “Olive!”—a request that could not be met in the church, but brought forth from Grace’s pocket a soft toffee that was popped into his mouth to be solemnly chewed during the remainder of the ceremony.
Iain performed the service and blessed their union. “Now you’re married,” he said at the end and shook hands with them both. Isabel looked at Jamie and thought, Nothing so beautiful, so magnificent, will ever happen to me again. And then she thought, There are many who wish for this, and never find it. May they do so; may they do so.
They signed the register. The woman who acted as witness, the admirer of the poet Fergusson, appended a signature so tiny as to be virtually indecipherable.
“I’ve always had very small handwriting,” she said. “But I still mean what I write.”
The other witness was a man who had been killing time before a journey and had wandered down from Waverley Station. He looked about the church as the ink dried on the page of the register.
“You know something?” he said to Jamie. “I’ve never believed in God, but I do believe in his love.”
Isabel heard this and glanced at the man, who smiled at her briefly and then turned away, looking vaguely sheepish.
Afterwards, while Grace and Charlie travelled back to the house by taxi, Isabel and Jamie walked home, making a long detour to follow the path that skirted the Salisbury Crags. They held hands on the walk, buffeted by the strong breeze that had sprung up while they were in the church. Isabel’s hair blew into her face, her eyes.
Jamie said to her, “I used to come here as a boy. I could run up Arthur’s Seat the easy way—round the back. I ran all the way.”
She pictured him in his kilt, a boy with bright eyes. And now here he was, a married man, a father.
They did not go out that night. Charlie sensed that something special had happened, but was tired and dropped off even before Jamie finished reading him his story. The tigers had not yet turned to butter, but the book was closed and the small lock of hair smoothed back across the forehead so gently by his father’s hand, his loving hand.
Isabel made dinner and they ate it together, in virtual silence. What was there to say? It seemed to them both that conversation could spoil the moment, as it sometimes does when everything has been said, even if few words have been used. After dinner, Jamie played the piano for a while, and Isabel sat and listened. Then, on impulse, they put on music and danced.
“It’s odd, dancing by ourselves,” muttered Jamie. “Odd, but very nice.”
“Yes,” said Isabel.
“Let’s stay up until half past nine,” said Jamie.
“Yes,” said Isabel. “Let’s.”
She held him to her as they danced. Over his shoulder she watched the minute hand of the clock creep slowly round the dial to the half hour. So slowly.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland.
Visit him: www.AlexanderMcCallSmith.com
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Or follow him: twitter.com/@mccallsmith
ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK BY ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH:
IN THE CORDUROY MANSIONS SERIES:
Corduroy Mansions • 978-0-307-37930-6
The Dog Who Came in From the Cold • 978-0-307-37984-9
IN THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES:
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency • 978-1-4000-7765-6
Tears of the Giraffe • 978-1-4000-7767-0
Morality for Beautiful Girls • 978-1-4000-7766-3
The Kalahari Typing School for Men • 978-1-4000-7941-4
The Full Cupboard of Life • 978-0-375-42324-6
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies • 978-0-375-42357-4
Blue Shoes and Happiness • 978-0-375-42426-7
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive • 978-0-375-42479-3
The Miracle at Speedy Motors • 978-0-307-37719-7
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built • 978-0-307-37810-1
The Double Comfort Safari Club • 978-0-307-37900-9
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party • 978-0-307-37963-4
IN THE ISABEL DALHOUSIE SERIES:
The Sunday Philosophy Club • 978-0-375-42343-7
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate • 978-0-375-42392-5
The Right Attitude to Rain • 978-0-375-42462-5
The Careful Use of Compliments • 978-0-375-42527-1
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday • 978-0-307-37776-0
The Lost Art of Gratitude • 978-0-307-37857-6
The Charming Quirks of Others • 978-0-307-37945-0
The Forgotten Affairs of Youth • 978-0-307-90679-3
IN THE PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERB SERIES:
Portuguese Irregular Verbs • 978-0-307-42729-8
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs • 978-0-307-42858-5
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances • 978-0-307-42488-4
IN THE 44 SCOTLAND STREET SERIES:
44 Scotland Street • 978-0-307-27679-7
Espresso Tales • 978-0-307-38639-7
Love Over Scotland • 978-0-307-38759-2
The World According to Bertie • 978-0-307-45522-2
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones • 978-0-307-47674-6
The Girl Who Married a Lion • 978-0-375-42344-4
La's Orchestra Saves the World • 978-0-307-37866-8
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PANTHEON BOOKS:
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The Forgotten Affairs of Youth Page 23
