It was only six in the morning when the residents of Baskerville received their first indication that something odd was happening.
First of all, the Streets had spent all week stating that Della's wedding was to be a quiet affair, and that they were not expecting any outside relatives or friends to attend.
It was, therefore, a very difficult sight for the residents of Baskerville to explain when they saw Paul Drake's expensive sports car rumbling down Main Street at dawn. They became even more perplexed when a florist's truck drove into town, followed by a veritable parade of cars, carrying dozens of 'city folk'.
Even more confusing was the fact that Miles Warner had not visited the tavern the morning of his wedding, as he had promised to do. His friends waited there for him in vain.
There was a lot of hustling and bustling by the church and the Street's barn. Workmen carried items into these buildings, and seemed to be decorating them beyond recognition.
As rumors spread through the houses of Baskerville like wildfire, its inhabitants realized that the only way to determine what was happening with absolute certainty was to attend the wedding. They quickly dressed themselves in their Sunday best, and hurried to the church at the appointed hour.
The church was overflowing with fragrant flowers. In the choir loft, a prominent ensemble from Los Angeles played and sang joyful hymns. The first five pews were filled with 'city folk'. Hamilton Burger and his wife, and Lieutenant Tragg were among them. For once, they and Perry Mason were on the same side. Despite their years of competition in the courtroom, they knew Perry and Della very well on a personal level, and were delighted that they were finally tying the knot. Della's girlfriends and their dates made up a great portion of the other elegant guests. And of course, many of Perry's close friends were there as well.
The Baskerville residents took in the scene with wide eyes, and seated themselves in the empty pews, trying to contain their curiosity. Their confusion was complete when they saw Della's mother, grandmother, brother and sister-in-law enter with broad smiles on their faces. Had they not been in despair at the idea of their darling marrying Miles?
A few minutes later, the music swelled, and the wedding march began.
At the front of the church, Perry, attired in an extremely well-tailored black tuxedo and tie, with a white flower in his breast pocket, stood up from the pew he had been sitting in, walked up the steps leading to the altar, and then turned to face the back doors of the church, Paul close upon his heels.
Instantly, a shocked murmur ran through the congregation.
"Isn't…isn't that Perry Mason, the famous Los Angeles defense attorney?" more than one shocked person asked their neighbor.
"That man certainly has a resemblance to the pictures I have seen of Mr. Mason. But what could he be doing here?"
While they were still murmuring, Della's nephew and niece processed down the aisle, as the flower girl and ring bearer. Following them were a few of Della's best friends, dressed in purple gowns, making beautiful bridesmaids.
Perry drew in a sharp breath. The time had come.
A trumpet sounded overhead. The back doors of the church opened.
And his Della appeared.
Her proud and relieved father escorted her into the church on his arm.
She was dressed in a shimmering white satin wedding gown with a long train, Perry's wedding present to her. It was a far cry from the plain white cotton dress she had planned on wearing when she thought that Miles Warner would be her bridegroom. Around her neck was a sparkling diamond necklace, Perry's birthday present to her. Over her soft brown locks was a veil of French lace.
Perry caught his breath. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
The inhabitants of Baskerville seemed to be stricken dumb. Could this confident beauty possibly be the shy, timid daughter of the Streets? What had they missed all these years?
Della and her father reached the front of the church, and Mr. Street took Della's slender hand and placed it in Perry's. Then he retreated to the pew where his family sat.
The prayers, readings, and music washed over the whole congregation. Very soon, the time for the vows arrived. Perry took Della's right hand in his own, and the priest approached them and wrapped his embroidered white stole around their joined hands. Nothing had ever felt so right to Perry in his entire life.
With a voice trembling from emotion, he repeated the priest's words:
"I, Perry, take you, Della, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do us part."
A moment later, he had the unforgettable thrill of hearing Della say, in her own, decisive voice,
"I, Della, take you, Perry, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do us part."
The rings were blessed and exchanged. And Perry found himself gazing into Della's eyes, and realized that he was looking at his wife!
He leaned in and gave her the first kiss of their married life, and felt such happiness as he had never dreamed possible. When they parted, he could see tears of happiness glazing her eyes as well.
…
About an hour later, they were announced as "Mr. and Mrs. Perry Mason" at their reception. The applause was deafening. The barn had been barely decorated the previous evening, but now thanks to Perry's pocketbook it was filled with fairy lights, an orchestra, and every possible trimming.
Perry smiled, and guided Della to the dance floor. A slow waltz was played, and they swayed in time to the music, gazing into each other's eyes and smiling all the while.
The townsfolk, having besieged Della's mother and grandmother with hundreds of questions, began to murmur in consternation.
"She wasn't a waitress…she was Perry Mason's confidential secretary all these years!"
"Whatever caused Miles Warner to spread such slander around town?"
"If you ask me the man is no good. I thought he was doing that girl a favor by marrying her when I thought she was a poor old maid, but now-"
"It was plain cruel of him to force her into marriage when she could obviously have done so much better. I heard Perry Mason is so rich that he once bought a four-family building the day after a murder just to be able to change the doorbells in it to benefit his client."
"Not to mention he actually has manners, which Miles Warner did not."
"And he's good-looking, too."
Perry and Della barely paid any attention to the murmurs. All that mattered to them was that they were together, and married.
"Perry, you are a genius, as usual," Mrs. Mason murmured. "In a few short hours, you have created my dream wedding."
"Only the best for my bride," Perry said, smiling and twirling her around.
The dance was much shorter than either of them would have liked, and all too soon, Perry had to give Della's hand back to her father for the traditional father-daughter dance. Paul was the third lucky man to claim Della for the dance after that.
As he watched his best friend and his new wife dance, Perry suddenly realized that his father-in-law was standing next to him.
"You…you must think very ill of me, I daresay, Mr. Mason," he began, timidly.
"If you refer to involving your newborn daughter in a bet, then, indeed, I do not believe that it was an intelligent thing to do. But in my line of work, I have come across many people who did foolish things in their youth and then turned out to be good, productive members of society. Furthermore, I checked up on you, and I know that you tried to get a job when you found out that Miles Warner was up to his tricks. It was only when you realized that you could never make enough to support both your family and your son's that you allowed Della to marry Miles. And as this is the happiest day of my life, I am disposed to be particularly forgiving."
"Thank you, Mr. Mason."
"Think nothing of it," Perry said, shaking his hand.
The District Attorney approached them.
"I would like to ask the bride for the next dance, if Mr. Mason has no objection," he said, overly-formally, with a knowing smile.
"No objection whatsoever, Mr. Burger," Perry rebutted.
Della thus next danced with Mr. Burger, and afterwards with Lieutenant Tragg, who delighted everyone with his unexpectedly lively dance moves. Afterwards, he returned Della Mason to the custody of her husband, and they danced together and cut their wedding cake. When it was towards evening, Della tossed her bouquet, and then, as the guests pelted them with white rose petals, exited the barn with Perry.
"What on earth happened to your car?" she exclaimed when she saw the Cadillac covered in white ribbons and 'Just Married' signs.
"Did you expect anything less of Paul?" her husband asked with a smile.
"No, I suppose I did not."
He opened the door and let her in, and then slid in beside her.
"We should make Los Angeles by midnight," Della said.
"We are not going to Los Angeles," the bridegroom informed her. He touched her cheek gently. "I have booked a two-week cruise and we leave tonight. I promise that I will not find any new clients during it. For our honeymoon, and forevermore, you come first, Della."
"That sounds perfect, Perry. I love you!"
He started the engine and they drove away from Baskerville. Not long afterwards, Della snuggled close to him and, resting her head on his shoulder, fell asleep. He slipped his arm around her and held her close as he drove. He pressed his cheek to the wedding veil which covered her hair. He felt as if he was being given a foretaste of heaven.
Glancing up at the sky, he whispered,
"Thank you."
THE END
Thank you to everyone for your reviews! I really enjoyed reading them and they helped encourage me to complete this story. Today, I am also posting two more Perry Mason stories - a one-shot "Stealing a Doorbell" and the first chapter of another story where Perry gets a much-need wake-up call about his feelings for Della: "The Case of the Irate Aunt". Please read and review those as well!
