He knew he did not have much time. It was 10 o'clock at night and he knew he was crazy as well. Could he have believed what Rhoda Stuart had told him, albeit snearingly? "So you are to attend Emily Starr's wedding then? I hear it is tomorrow."
He had flagged a rented car and managed to race to the Burnley household where he caught Ilse in her harebell blue bridesmaid dress. Ilse had a bone to pick of her own..."I can't understand why Emily didn't want me to stay with her tonight...and the wedding done so quickly and hap-hazardly?...Yes, it is just us home folk plus a few Priests here and there, well, in fact, everywhere...I was telling Dad that it was a bad omen...all the Priests nosediving here...and of course, we had to keep some...family relations with the Murrays..they had to stay somwhere, although their Priestliness is a bit much for me...never understood why they aren't Catholic..."
But he was running from her home, sprinting to New Moon. Ilse could not figure out what possesed 't he stay at least for a chat? Becoming more like Perry every day...what a Miller type of thing to do!
(BREAK)
Emily lay in her bed, watching the minutes slip by on the old clock. Oh, she couldn't bear it. Trying to sleep, her dreams were only fraught with images of Teddy...how he laughed, how much devotion he had shown to his art, their argument and their first kiss...and the memories beforehand, how he had tried to ask her to wait for him on the Tomorrow Road, their shared look during the Shrewsbury storm...
She got up. The torment was too much to bear. That was when she heard a whistle. A long whistle. Two high notes and one low. She grew pale, clutching at the bed post. She wanted to faint. Was she dreaming yet again? But somehow, Emily knew that Teddy was there, beneath the firs.
She grabbed a cloak and ran downstairs. No pride was left in her. She needed to go...it was something she owed herself.
Teddy saw her cross the threshold of New Moon and come to him. He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms.
Emily saw him standing by the firs and her traitorous heart leapt at the sight of him.
When she neared him, he placed a finger on her lips.
"I am sorry for what I did, Emily," he said. "I am sorry that I could not be there for you when you needed it. I am sorry I could never win your love. And I am sorry that you felt the need to run from me when you only sought friendship and trust in me, which I betrayed."
"Teddy, I---" but he continued.
"I don't know what I did what I did. But you were my inspiration always. And you will always be. But you know I want nothing but for you to be happy, even if it's not with me. I didn't have any other time but to give you this and my best wishes. I heard you're getting married tomorrow and I don't know when you'll be back after the wedding, and I pretty much understand that my presence probably will not be welcomed...here,"
He thrust the crumbled sheet of paper in her hand. Emily stared and started.
"Do you know what this is?" she whispered. "Did you read it?" her voice rose, almost panicked.
"No," he said indignantly. "I'm not a cheat,"
But Emily was beyond his words of anger. Here was her answer...when she was pacing, she had asked for an answer from Fate about her dilemma. She needed a sign, anything, that would show her what path she would take. She couldn't endure it any longer. That's why she has asked Dean to meet her there...to tell him what she truly wanted.
And now here it was. And the sureness that filled her was something that she had never felt before. The sweetness of love only completed the revelation. And here was the man she was always destined for. Yes, Fate had given a definite answer.
"Let me read it to you," she said, tears filling her eyes. And she did.
As the words caught meaning, Teddy's mood changed from remorse to uncertainty to happiness. When she finished, he held her. They stayed that way for minutes...Vega of the Lyre seemed to burst with light and flickered brillantly.
"I love you," she sobbed. "Fate only led me to you again and again. I was just scared about seeing my heart break but 'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"
"I know," he said, kissing her hair. "I swear I will never hurt you, Emily. My love for you cannot let me commit that sin."
She pulled away from him for a moment. "What made you come?" she asked, looking into his eyes.
"Fate," he said gently. " Only it could."
(BREAK)
She met him again near Lofty John's Bush two years later. Wearing the whitest veil and the laciest gown, she came on the arm of Cousin Jimmy. She stood opposite him as they both repeated the oldest, yet most sacred of vows that never have lost their tremendous power in uniting two souls who desire to pledge their troth until death do them part.
The crowds of faces were only in smiles. Ilse and Perry stood side by side, occasionally ribbing one another but sneaking glances when he or she thought the other was not looking.
Dr. Burnley was seen wiping away a few tears and spending most of his time comforting Aunt Laura whose tears ran in number.
The Olivers were there, with Mrs. Oliver whispering to a dour Aunt Ruth about the lovely scenery. Aunt Ruth, who had deemed the parlor as the only proper place for a wedding, had to endure it for she could not make a scene in front of the other guests who seemed to be looking at them in amusement.
Mrs. Kent stood nearby, watching her son repeating the words after the minister. How she wished David could be there on this day! But even she knew her husband must be watching somehow...
And Aunt Elizabeth worried very little now about her niece who was in good hands. Yes, Frederick Kent was a good man...
Old Mr. Kelly had come by as well, much to the disgust of the Murrays to leave a present for Emily. The card read "Now that's something like." There was another envelope too, a deed to the Disappointed House it contained...with the promise that when Dean really had become old, he would come one day.
And so we end this chapter and only wish the very best that can be foreboded. But Fate has assured us a happy ending, which all stories should end in...
COMPLETE!!! WOHOO!! HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!!