August slipped away more quickly than Una would have liked, bringing her ever closer to the day of her departure for Redmond. Her uneasiness about going to college had seemed to grow stronger since they had found out about Walter, and she thought that this was because leaving home was now the most unsettling thought that she had. She was a bit ashamed of her trepidation, but she had never before been away from home for such a great length of time, and her shyness made it difficult for her to make new friends. She wished that Rilla had decided to take the course in Household Science, too, but Rilla wasn't really interested in a college course, and her mind was mostly filled with Ken.
The last week of the month was taken up with preparations for Mary Vance's marriage to Miller Douglas. Although they had originally planned to be married in the fall, Mary had decided to move the wedding to August so that Una could be her maid of honor. Mary was disappointed that Faith would not be home yet, but she had told Una that she "had her heart set on having her as maid of honor," and that Miller "had his heart set on being married before Christmas," so they wouldn't wait any longer.
The wedding was to be a rather quiet affair, held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Elliot, with only the Blythes, Merediths, and a few of Miller's relations in attendance. Mrs. Alec Davis was not expected to be among them, as everyone in the Glen knew that she thought Miller was throwing himself away.
Una awoke at dawn on the day of the wedding and slipped out of bed and crept over to her window. She thought she could see a light coming from the boys' room at Ingleside and she remembered having heard Jem tell Jerry that neither he nor Walter or Shirley was sleeping very well. She could hear the hushed voices of her own brothers coming from the room next door. This morning they were talking about what they hoped to accomplish at Redmond, but she had heard them speaking of the war on other mornings just like this one. She also heard them when they cried out in the night; sometimes she went in to try to comfort them, but sometimes she stayed in her room and let them take care of each other.
Una climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Hearing Jerry and Carl's conversation had reminded her that she would be leaving for Redmond in two days. She would be staying in a boarding house near the one where Jerry and Carl would be boarding, and she was thankful for that, at least. When she wasn't dreading being away from her family and home and friends in the Glen, she found that she was looking forward to learning new things. After all, she had made her decision to study Household Science because she wanted to do her part to help with the building of the "new world."
"I declare, Una, that shade of pink just suits you," said Mary, glancing over her shoulder at Una's dress as Una helped her get into her wedding dress.
"Thank you, Mary. The dressmaker in Charlottetown told me that it made me look too pale."
"Oh, you shouldn't pay her any mind," said Mary indignantly. "She told me that I shouldn't wear a white wedding dress because my hair is so light and my eyes look so white, and she tried to talk me in to wearing a navy blue dress instead, but I told her that I intended to wear white just like every other young bride. I think she's only jealous of all the young girls she makes dresses for."
"She is an excellent seamstress, though," Una replied. "Father and Rosemary insisted that I have her make nearly my entire wardrobe for Redmond, and it was nice to have someone else make my clothes for a change. There now, I have all the buttons fastened."
"Isn't this nice, Una? My, I never dreamed that one day I'd wear a dress as elegant as this one."
"It's lovely, Mary," answered Una. Mary's dress was a dream of silk and lace, with such intrinsic detail in the lace. Una suddenly thought of her mother's old grey wedding dress which was now hanging in her closet back at the old manse. Years ago, soon after Rosemary had married her father and moved to the manse, she had discovered how much Una loved her mother's dress, and she had asked Una's father to give Una the dress. He had readily agreed, and they had moved the dress from the spare room closet to Una's closet. Every once in awhile, Una went to the closet to touch the dress and feel close to her mother just as she had when she was a child. Now she wondered if she would ever wear a wedding dress of her own.
"Una?" Mary's voice brought Una back to the present. "Could you drape my veil now?"
"Of course, Mary, I'm sorry." She lifted Mary's filmy white veil off the bed and placed it on Mary's head. Then she walked around to stand in front of Mary and admire the results of their work. "Oh, Mary, you look lovely," she said.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and then they heard Carl's voice. "Are you ladies ready?" he asked. "All the guests are here now and ready for the wedding to begin." Miller had asked Carl to be his best man since they spent so much time together on their journey home from Europe. Carl had cheerfully told his family that he thought Miller had asked him to be the best man since they were the two men from the Glen who had come home missing something.
"Yes, we're ready," said Mary, picking up her bouquet of pink and white roses from the bed.
Una picked up her own matching bouquet and glanced in Mary's mirror one final time to make sure that her hair was neatly in place, and then she followed Mary out of the door and into the old hall. Mr. Elliot was standing in the hall with Carl, but Miller had already gone downstairs to the parlour, where the wedding was to be held. Una had always liked Mr. Elliot, and now he was smiling down at her and Mary as they walked towards him. Somehow his smile helped Una to choke down the sudden nervousness that had come over her as she thought about walking into that parlour with all those people looking at her. Of course, most of them would be people that she knew and knew well, but she had still dreaded having all their eyes on her.
Mary took Mr. Elliot's arm and Una took Carl's, and they went silently down the stairs and into the parlour, with Carl and Una leading the way.
Una kept her eyes focused on Mary and Miller for most of the ceremony, and only ventured to look out into the small crowd of guests a few times. When she did, she found herself looking straight in the direction of Walter Blythe. His grey eyes seemed to be fixed in her direction as well. She felt the color rising to her cheeks and hoped that neither Walter nor anyone else would notice. She was thankful when her father pronounced Miller and Mary husband and wife, and soon she was once again taking Carl's arm for the recessional.
The wedding supper was a festive, noisy affair even though the number of guests was relatively small, since they were mostly crowded into Miss Cornelia's dining room. Una wandered into the kitchen to try to help Miss Cornelia, Rosemary, and Mrs. Blythe, but all three of them told her to go back into the dining room and enjoy herself. She walked back into the room and saw Rilla motioning for her to come and take the seat beside her.
"You look lovely, Una," said Rilla when Una was seated.
"Thank you," said Una quietly. "Pink is one of my favorite colors, but I think this dress would look much better on Faith."
"I can't wear pink at all," Rilla lamented. Then, changing the subject, she said, "It certainly will be lonesome when all of you leave for Redmond next week. I'll be all alone at Ingleside once again, without even Jims or you to keep me company."
"You could always come along with me and study Household Science, too," Una ventured. "I'll be lonely in Kingsport as well."
Rilla shook her head. "I wish I was interested in a college course, but you know I never have been. And you won't be lonely in Kingsport. You'll have all of the boys to keep you company, and you'll make lots of new friends."
"I hope you are right, Rilla."
"I am," said Rilla, with a sly smile.
They heard laughter from across the room and looked in the direction of the corner where Walter, Jem, and Jerry were talking and laughing. Actually, Jem and Jerry were doing the talking and laughing, and Walter was listening. He did appear to be interested in what they were saying, though, and Una was relieved to see that he did not seem quite as despondent as he had in the past few weeks. A smile even came to his lips once or twice. Una heard Rilla give a little sigh, and she knew that Rilla was still concerned about Walter. Suddenly Walter turned and looked in Una's direction. For a moment they locked eyes and Walter smiled again. She returned his smile, blushing furiously all the while and hoping that she wasn't giving away her secret for the whole room to see. Then Jerry said something to Walter and he turned to face him, and Una turned her attention back to Rilla, hoping all the time that Rilla had not noticed. She knew that Rilla had to know her secret already, but she still did not want to confide in her about her feelings for Walter.
"Would you like to spend tonight at Ingleside with me, Una?" Rilla asked suddenly. "Nan and Di will be there of course, and it will be just like old times. We can stay up most of the night and talk about the wedding and anything else that comes into our heads. It will be the last talk we'll be able to have for a long while."
Rilla sounded so wistful that Una couldn't refuse her invitation. Besides, it would be nice to stay all night with her friends like she used to do in those innocent, carefree days of yore. "Why, yes, Rilla, that does sound like fun," she said. "Thank you."
As the supper was coming to an end, Mary called Una to come with her up to her room to gather her suitcase for her honeymoon. Once inside the room, Mary enveloped Una in a bear's hug.
"Una, you've always been one of my dearest friends, and I have you to thank for Cornelia's taking me in. I also have you to thank for my being married to Miller today. If you hadn't coaxed Cornelia into letting me live with her, there's no telling where I would've ended up, but I don't think I would have met him."
"Don't thank me, Mary, thank God," Una replied, returning Mary's hug, albeit somewhat more gently.
"Well, of course I thank Him, too," protested Mary. She released Una, and glancing at the clock on her bedside table, said, "Laws, but we'd better hurry. We have to catch the train in twenty minutes and Miller is so impatient. You know how men are." She retrieved her suitcase from the corner beside her closet and then hurried back downstairs with Una close behind.
Una stood back as the rest of the guests poured into the yard to prepare to see the happy couple off. Mary helped Miller climb into Norman Douglas' buggy, and then, as if the thought had just occurred to her, she turned and tossed her bouquet, which hit Mr. Elliot squarely in the head before falling to the ground. Mr. Elliot picked it up and handed it to Rilla Blythe, who was standing next to him. Mary, still laughing over her bouquet's fate, barely had time to get situated in the buggy before Norman drove off with the speed that he was famed for. Ellen Douglas was always telling her sister that every time she and Norman went anywhere together she expected to be thrown from the buggy at any moment.
Una turned and went back inside the house, feeling the emptiness that seems to be left with the guests at a wedding once the bride and groom have made their departure. She was feeling tired and almost wished that she hadn't promised to stay all night with the Blythe girls at Ingleside.
