by Irene Brand
After the Cherokee wedding was celebrated on the lawn, the pastor of the church invited the assembled group to enter the church to witness the Christian wedding of Earl and Awinta. The pews were filled; there was standing room only.
The structure was fairly new, having replaced the original dirt-floored log cabin a few years after the first building had been destroyed by fire. The sanctuary had two front doors, for the purpose of having men enter the church and sit on one side of the sanctuary, with women and children on the other side. A wide aisle down the middle of the church separated the two. It had been several years since this practice had been enforced, and men and their families usually sat together in one pew.
Marie was surprised at the large group of people who’d gathered for the wedding, but Lena whispered, “Awinta’s family are leaders of the Cherokees, and I expected a large crowd. I didn’t know that they would all stay for the traditional wedding inside the church, but I’m happy they did.”
In deference to those who couldn’t understand the Cherokee language, Earl had asked the local preacher to read in English two selections of poetry that were always a part of the Cherokee wedding.
Marie considered it an inspiring addition to the service, as was the preacher’s Cherokee blessing, which he pronounced on the young couple.
A male soloist, who sang in the Christian church on the Cherokee reservation, sang “The Indian Serenade,” first in Cherokee and then in English.
As Earl and Awinta stood before the minister, he asked Daniel and Marie to take their places as attendants on each side of the couple. When the minister started reading the traditional wedding service, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God and these witnesses...” Daniel lifted his hand.
“Could we pause for a moment?”
Reverend Thomas had been in the ministry for many years and apparently he was never surprised at what might happen in any service.
“Of course,” he answered with a smile, “what’s on your mind?”
Daniel opened his mouth, and Marie had never before seen him so flustered. His face had turned beet red, and he cleared his throat several times before he finally mumbled, “Well, I’ve just realized how much I love Marie. If she’s willing, why can’t you marry us, too?”
Still smiling, the minister said quietly, “You certainly don’t mean right now?”
“Yes, I do.”
Daniel turned to Marie, put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
Speaking to her as if they were the only people in the sanctuary, he said, “I know this is most irregular, but since we’ve known one another for several months, by now, you’re probably not surprised at anything I do. Regardless of how you answer my question, I doubt I’ll change much. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, of course...” she started to say, and when he opened his lips to speak, she shook her head. “Please let me finish. I want to marry you, but don’t you think you’d better get permission from someone else?”
He stared at her, not comprehending.
“Oh, you mean your parents!” Daniel said, and groaned aloud. “What if they say no?” he whispered.
Marie shrugged her shoulders, enjoying herself immensely. It was good to realize that her future husband could be uncertain about what he said or did.
Taking a deep breath, he turned toward the seat where Vance and Evelyn sat.
“Will you give us your blessing for this marriage?”
“Certainly,” Vance said, “I believe the two of you deserve one another, and I’ll leave it up to you to interpret what I mean by that answer.”
After a moment of stunned silence, the congregation burst into spontaneous laughter and applause at Vance’s answer.
“Certainly you aren’t suggesting that they have the wedding right now?” Evelyn said to Vance. “I only have one daughter, and I want to see her married in our own church in Canaan. That is, if it’s acceptable to Daniel’s grandmother.”
She turned to Lena. “Since you’re Daniel’s closest relative, what’s your idea about planning a wedding?”
“I wholeheartedly approve of Marie marrying into our family. I, too, want to see them marry in a church wedding, and I approve Canaan as the place for it.”
Shamefaced, Daniel said, “Forget my hasty proposal. I agree that we should postpone our wedding for a few weeks until you ladies can make plans for a day that we’ll all remember with pride and pleasure.” He turned to the minister and said, “Forgive me for interrupting the wedding. Please go on.”
The minister laughed as if he’d seen everything, then continued with Earl and Awinta’s wedding.
* * *
Although Daniel would have been willing for the minister in Cades Cove to perform the wedding at the same time as Earl and Awinta’s, he could understand why Evelyn, Lena and Marie wanted a formal ceremony. As they talked about it later back at his grandmother’s house, he said, “I’ll admit that I didn’t consider that you ladies would want to make our wedding such a big event. Buy anything and everything you want to, and I’ll pay for it.”
Shaking her head, Evelyn smiled and said, “I doubt that your future father-in-law will allow that. The bride’s parents are traditionally responsible for the wedding expenses. Although Vance will probably tell us that you should have a simple wedding like ours was, he wouldn’t consider allowing you to pay the bill.”
“What kind of wedding ceremony did you have?” Daniel wanted to know, realizing that he’d attended only a few weddings in his lifetime.
“We stood on the steps of the Bolden plantation home and had a very simple service. The plantation employees and close neighbors attended, and I wore garments that we found in the trunks of Bolden ancestors, stored in the attic. I still have those clothes and, while they are treasures to keep, I think Marie should have a new dress.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Daniel said, “She’ll be beautiful no matter what she wears, and if Vance wants to pay the bills, that’s all right with me.”
Marie turned to Daniel and took his hand. “After the wedding could we go to South Carolina where Daddy’s plantation was, and visit the island where Earl and I were born? We could include it in our honeymoon.”
Daniel said, “I reserve the right to take you on a wedding trip, and I’d like to go to New York, if that appeals to you.”
Smiling broadly, Marie agreed. “More than all right! I’ve always wanted to go to New York. We can go to South Carolina later.”
Daniel nodded and said, “We haven’t discussed it, but after our honeymoon I’d like us to settle down in my house in the Cove. Is that all right with you?”
“I love you so much I’ll agree to anything you want to do,” she said, taking both his hands and gazing into his eyes.
Content to let Lena and Evelyn plan the wedding, Marie readily accepted when Lena asked if she could make the wedding gown. Marie was pleased that the styles for women’s garments were changing. No longer did the styles favor crinolines and bustles, but rather the skirts in front were cut slim at the top and flared at the bottom. Two pleats were located in the back, where a bustle would have been placed a few years earlier. She also intended to wear a gold bouquet holder, a gift from her father, as well as the watch attached to an ornamental brooch that Vance had given to Evelyn on the occasion of their tenth wedding anniversary.
* * *
With all the plans to be made, the time passed quickly until the day she stood before the altar of the church in Canaan, dressed in a white satin dress and wearing a matching wide-brimmed hat. Beside her, Daniel stood, handsome as always, outfitted in a dark brown double-breasted morning coat, matching trousers, and a white shirt with a wing collar. The church was crowded with family and friends, and as they took their vows, Marie recalled the events of her life. It seemed that she’d come full circle from the ti
me she was born to this time of rejoicing with friends and relatives on this special day.
Only a short distance from the church was the place where she’d seen Daniel for the first time—riding a bucking bronco. Her life hadn’t been the same since then. Momentarily, she wondered what God had in the future for them. Perhaps it was as well she didn’t know. Still, Marie was sure that, in spite of several traumatic situations, because God had brought her this far, He would continue to guide her decisions. They returned to the Bolden mansion where Aunt Fannie and her helpers had prepared enough food to feed a small army.
As they walked up the front steps, suddenly a bright ray of sunshine escaped from a white cloud that was flitting across the sky and spotlighted the steps of the Bolden mansion where they were standing.
“I consider that a good sign—God is putting His blessing on us,” Marie said. “Our relationship hasn’t been altogether perfect so far, but as we’ve walked our individual ways, now we’ll walk hand in hand together. Oh, Daniel, God is good.”
“Yes, He is,” Daniel agreed. “I’m so thankful that I’m following Him now, so we’ll have a Christian home where we will be blessed and have the opportunity to watch our children grow to adulthood. I’m looking forward to that journey.”
Moving into his tight embrace, Marie whispered, “So am I, Daniel. So am I!”
Momentarily, Marie’s past flitted through her mind. It had been quite a journey, and not one she would want to repeat. But the future beckoned to her, so she accepted the challenge. Whatever God had in mind for Daniel and her, she would gladly accept.
Epilogue
After their month-long trip to New York City, Marie thought that she would be satisfied to settle down in Cades Cove the rest of her life. When she commented on this to her mother, Evelyn laughed.
“You? I’m not too sure about that! Earl, yes. But you’ll always want to see what’s on the other side of the mountain. Isn’t there some place in particular you’d like to visit before you settle down and, I hope, plan to provide me with some grandchildren?”
“Oh, don’t put ideas in her head,” Daniel said. “I have a farm to manage.”
Grinning sheepishly, Marie said, “Someday I want to go to California, but not until we have those grandchildren you’ve mentioned.”
Daniel groaned, but she ignored him because she knew he wanted to visit the West Coast, too.
“But in the meantime,” she said, turning to Daniel, “there’s a place I want to visit more than California, and I want to take Dad and Mother with us.”
“Name it, and we’ll all go,” Daniel said.
Silently amused, Marie wondered if she told Daniel she wanted the moon if he would try to get it for her.
“I want to visit Charleston and see those places that molded my life. I’d especially like to see the island where Dad rescued my mother, and where Earl and I were born.” She turned to her mother and said, “Do you think Dad would want to go?”
“We’ll never know until we ask.”
When Marie questioned her father about the trip to the Atlantic coast, he agreed that he would like to visit the former Bolden Plantation.
“I sort of dread it,” Vance said, “for it might be run down, and I’ll always remember the mansion like it is now, rather than what it was when I was a child.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing our ancestral home and I wish Earl could go with us, but that isn’t an option,” Marie said. “He said he really didn’t want to go.”
Daniel laughed, saying, “If you and Earl didn’t look so much alike, I wouldn’t believe you were even related. Earl is a quiet, rather reclusive person, with hardly any interest in other people. Or so it seems.”
“Yes, we are different. But he’s been a good brother. He’s always been attentive to me. When we were children, we were inseparable. He was my protector, too, and made it a point to see that no one pestered me. It’s true he’s not as outgoing as I am, though.”
* * *
A month later, when they arrived at the plantation where he was born, tears momentarily filled Vance’s eyes. Marie took his hand. “Are you disappointed, Daddy?”
“Oh, no! I dreaded to see it, but the property looks exactly as it did when I first remember it. The ravages of war are gone now, and I can remember how my sister and I played as children on the lawn.” Pointing to a hill behind the house, he continued, “Our family cemetery is up there. I hope the owners will give us permission to visit it.”
Not only did the current owners tell them they could go to the cemetery, they also took them on a tour of the house. When they left, Evelyn said quietly to the owner, “Thank you so much for your hospitality. In the past few years, my husband has wondered if his ancestral home was in good hands. It’s a blessing to both of us that his memories of the plantation are pleasant.”
The next day, they hired a buggy and took a tour of the town, stopping along the coast to see the island where the twins were born. Only a pile of logs was left of the cabin where Vance had cared for Evelyn during the birth of the twins.
“Well, Father, Mother, you’ve come full circle since 1875.” Marie asked, “Looking back, do you have regrets, sorrows, joy?”
Vance’s eyes were full of tears, and he couldn’t speak. He nodded toward Evelyn, and putting her arm around him, she beckoned for Daniel and Marie to join them. With their arms intertwined, she said, “I’ve experienced some of all those emotions. But ours has been a full life, and my prayer is that your marriage will be as rewarding as ours has been. I’m suddenly reminded of some words from the 126th Psalm, which, to my notion, describe our lives in detail. I couldn’t ask for a better promise than these words, ‘The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad... He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.’”
“I know it’s impossible,” Marie said, “but I sometimes wish we could see into the future and know what the next twenty years will bring. Still, we do have the assurance that God is faithful and will guide our future as He has our past. God is good!”
Vance, Daniel and Evelyn agreed to her words with a resounding, “Amen!”
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460316184
Copyright © 2013 by Irene Brand
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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