Chapter Ten—Venice
Two months later, Una found herself en route to Venice. She had loved her time in the British Isles with Valancy, Barney, and Cecy; in fact, she and Valancy had made a pact to write regularly, which they had done ever since the Redferns had gone back to Toronto. Una had visited Belgium and Holland, sorrowing over the vestiges of the War that still remained. Now she was on a train crossing the border between Switzerland and Italy, a place that she had always thought would be a rather nice place to see.
Shirley's sapphire winked up at her from the ring finger of her left hand. Dear Shirley! Not long following the letter she had written after the play, he had replied, proposing marriage again. Una had thought it over a long time—this was a good time to think about things, because none of the clan was around to give advice, had talked matters over with Valancy, and had finally decided to accept his proposal.
"I just don't know," Valancy had told her. "Part of me wishes that you were madly, head-over-heels in love with him, and the other part of me reminds myself that Barney wasn't in love with me when we were married. Do you love him at all, Una?"
"Of course," Una said. "I've known him for a fairly large portion of my life. Two sets of our siblings are married. We both tend to be a little more on the quiet side. It will be a good marriage."
"If you're happy…" Valancy told her. She could tell that Una wasn't quite comfortable with the subject, so the best thing to do was not push it.
Una had written to Shirley, suppressing any doubts she might have had. Shirley's ring had come to her in Holland—it was a beautiful ring, with a fine sapphire set in the band of gold. Inside was engraved SB to UM, 1932. Una felt that she cared more for Shirley every day, and letters sailed across the ocean from Redmond to Una's various hotels and back.
"Should I come home now?" she wrote to Shirley. "I'm willing to get married whenever you want—I'd like a quiet wedding, with just the family present. (Although, I wouldn't say we have a quiet family!) My trousseau will be what I got for the trip, and I'm going to wear my mother's wedding dress. Just say the word, Shirley, and I'll be skimming back across the world to you."
Shirley told her not to cut her trip short in order for their wedding. Since she was supposed to return in time for Christmas, they would be married then. This was her once-in-a-lifetime trip, and she was to make the most of it.
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"Venice—the Bride of the Sea," Una sighed blissfully, sipping an iced tea at a little outdoor café overlooking the Grand Canal. She had read somewhere that the light in Venice had a certain quality that could be found nowhere else on Earth, and so far whoever had said that was right. There was a touch of gold in the sunlight that danced over the water, the red and white of the boatmen's' coats looked like peppermint candy, and her black hair seemed almost to shine.
It was the first Sunday in September, the day of the annual regatta held on the Grand Canal. Una had gone to church at a small Presbyterian church in the morning, enjoying the sense of familiarity in a strange land. It was a comfort to know that on the other side of the world, her relatives were quite possibly singing some of the same hymns as her.
On her way to the church, she had passed the beautiful cathedral of St. Mark's. Originally built for the doge, long-ago ruler of the Venetian Republic, it was in the shape of a Greek cross covered by a dome in the center and one over each of the arms. Una had visited it earlier in the week and had been amazed at all the mosaics covering the inside walls and arches. The Presbyterian church was much more humble, but it had the essence of home about it.
The café where she was now sitting was directly in front of one of the many campaniles that dotted the city. Its bells chimed every hour on the hour, playing a beautiful melody. "Maybe I'll have to see if I can climb to the top of one before I leave," she thought to herself.
The regatta had begun. Since the only boat races Una had ever seen in her life were the ones down the brook in Rainbow Valley, she was excited. The brightly colored boats moved gracefully along, propelled skillfully by their workers. Before she knew it, she found herself cheering, not even considering what her sister and sister-in-laws would have thought if they could have seen her.
"Come on! You can do it!" she called softly. "Keep going…you'll make it!" She was so wrapped up in the boat race that she didn't even notice the shadow of the man standing behind her until he spoke.
"Are you from P. E. Island? I'm from there, and your accent reminds me of home."