by Jane Peart
Niki couldn’t resist peeking through the doors into the sanctuary. She saw Fraser taking his place at the side of the altar. At her request he had worn his Highland regimental uniform, the kilt with the Graham tartan and all. The sun slanting in from the high arched windows burnished his reddish blond hair. Oh, he’s gorgeous, Niki thought, and she sighed. And he’s mine! Almost, anyway.
Just then someone thrust the bouquet of flowers into her hands. Their heavy fragrance rose and she took a deep breath. The first chords of Lohengrin’s wedding march sounded. “Time to go,” Uncle Scott said, and Niki put her arm through his as someone pushed open the doors into the church.
Niki’s heart fluttered. It was real. At last it was really happening. Oh, I’m so glad we waited for this, she thought. As they moved down the aisle, she felt the waves of love reaching out to her from people on either side. She felt the love surrounding her, wrapping her in its warmth and caring.
A heartfelt prayer rose up joyously in Niki. Oh, thank you, God, for bringing me to this moment, to this country, to this family, to this man. In your love and wisdom, you brought me to this place so that I would be protected and cared for all the days of my life.
With measured pace they reached the altar, and Uncle Scott placed Niki’s hand in Fraser’s extended one. Fraser’s expression was serious until he looked down into Niki’s radiant, upturned face, and then he broke into a wide smile.
The beautiful words that she’d listened to during the rehearsal she now spoke solemnly. She pledged her faithfulness, her devotion, her enduring love, to Fraser, whatever the future held. This time it was the real thing. The vows were forever. She thrilled at the sound of his soft burred voice as he made the same promises to her.
“You are now man and wife.” This closed the formal ceremony. However, Niki and Fraser had decided to add something else. They moved up the altar steps together. Each took a taper and lit it from the two outside white candles in the branched silver candelabra.
The night before, Reverend Morrison had explained the significance of this part of the ceremony. The two end candles represented their separate lives up to this moment. Two distinct lights, capable of going separate ways. To bring happiness to their future home, these two lights must be merged into one light, as in the Lord’s words: “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one.”
They had memorized what to say to each other.
“From this day forward, our thoughts shall be for each other rather than for our individual selves. Our plans shall be mutual. Our joys and our sorrows shall be shared alike.”
Then together they used the flames of their individual candles to light the center one, saying in unison, “As we extinguish our separate candles thus, the center candle represents the sacred union of our lives. May this one light be a radiant testimony to our covenant to each other and our commitment to a Christian life together.”
Niki could not remember ever being so filled with emotion, both happiness and a certain sadness. The leaving behind of the life she had known, especially in the past five years—her life of independence, adventure, self-reliance. From this day forward she would be living with entirely different purposes and goals. She was no longer hopelessly searching to belong somewhere, to someone. She had finally found a heart home.
Together they went back down the altar steps, stopping first at the Montrose pew to embrace Cara and Phoebe, then starting back down the aisle of the church. They halted here and there to shake hands, receive hugs and congratulations.
A photographer waited just outside in the vestibule, and flashbulbs popped, temporarily dazzling them as pictures were taken. Holding hands, they ran down the church steps. At the bottom Fraser swung Niki around into his arms and they kissed. A real kiss, not the brief, light one they had given each other at the close of the ceremony. When it ended they broke apart, laughing. Behind them they heard the footsteps and voices of the wedding guests following them out of the church and into the churchyard.
The Camerons had provided an old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage to take the newlywed couple to the reception. Those who understood the significance exchanged smiles and glances as the buggy disappeared down the country road. Again, as had happened in the many years past, a Montrose man was bringing home his bride to Montclair.
*Author John Gillespie Magee. Reproduced by permission from This England magazine.
About the Author
JANE PEART is a best-selling novelist. With over 650,000 books sold, her popular Brides of Montclair series is one of the longest-running continous series on the Christian market. Her other series include Westward Dreams, American Quilt, and the Orphan Train Trilogy.
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By Jane Peart
The Brides of Montclair Series
Valiant Bride
Ransomed Bride
Fortune’s Bride
Folly’s Bride
Yankee Bride
Rebel Bride
Gallant Bride
Shadow Bride
Destiny’s Bride
Jubilee Bride
Mirror Bride
Hero’s Bride
Senator’s Bride
Daring Bride
Courageous Bride
The Westward Dreams Series
Runaway Heart
Promise of the Valley
Where Tomorrow Waits
A Distant Dawn
The American Quilt Series
The Pattern
The Pledge
The Promise
Courageous Bride
Copyright © 1998 by Jane Peart
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2011 ISBN: 978-0-310-82972-0
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peart, Jane.
Courageous bride : Montclair in wartime, 1939-1946 / Jane Peart.
p. cm. —(The brides of Montclair series : 14)
ISBN: 0-310-20210-8
1. World War, 1939-1945—Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Peart, Jane. Brides of
Montclair series : bk. 14.
PS3566.E238C68 1998
813’.54—dc21
98-5496
CIP
* * *
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
* * *
98 99 00 01 02 03 04/DC/10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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