"Come on, darling," she called up the stairs, "We did say ten o'clock and we're going to be late if we don't get a move on."
There was the sound of hurried footsteps above and then a brief pause. Then the footsteps moved to the top of the stairs and she looked up to see him descending hurriedly towards her.
"Sorry," he told her as he reached her at the foot of the stair, all ready with her coat and handbag while he had to take his quickly down from the peg and hurry his way into it, "I couldn't decide which tie to wear. Is this one alright?"
"Dashing," she told him wryly, pulling his scarf down from the same peg and arranging around his neck for him, "I'm knocked off my feet. Honestly," she smiled at him in something close to exasperation as they made their way out of the door, "There was no need for you to wear a tie. You're going to see my mother not your old headmaster! You don't have to be so formal!"
"Well, I'm going there in quite a formal capacity," he replied seriously, having locked the door, following her down the steps to his car and unlocking the doors so that they could both clamber in.
"Oh, yes, I forgot," she teased him, "You're off to negotiate my dowry with the head of the family."
He looked at her not quite sternly but still with more gravity than she, up until now, had been affording him.
"Now, Shelagh, don't be silly," he told her, "Do you think your mother will mind if we're late?"
His voice sounded strained and she saw that he was more nervous than she'd realised up until now. She had just assumed that he would know there was no need at all to be scared of her mother. He really did want to make a good first impression, and she remembered some of the conversations they had had when it had been transparently obvious that he thought he didn't deserve her.
"She won't mind," she told him gently, taking his hand off the steering wheel for a moment and just holding it in hers, "Well, she might a little bit at first, but she'll get used to the fact that we're always late. It doesn't matter. She's going to love you," she stated confidently, "She's going to love you because she'll realise how happy you make me. I've already told her, but today she'll see it for herself."
He was quiet for a few moments, then, squeezing her hand back, he raised it to his lips and placed a brief but passionate kiss over her knuckles.
"What would you want with an old fool like me?" he murmured, his gaze glancing upwards and only just meeting hers. He looked shy, his voice was quiet.
She thought of him holding her the night before, cradling her in his arms after they made love, making her feel adored.
"I want everything with you," she told him, "I want everything in the world. And I will never be able to get enough."
Stretching up in her seat, she leant forwards and pressed a kiss into his forehead, beneath the slight unruliness of his hair, which he had tried to tame into submission in honour of the occasion.
Falling back into her seat she told him;
"Now drive me to my mother's and ask her if it's alright for you to marry me."
…...
It was a warm day, and they sat in the little garden behind the house. For the first two hours they had simply talked: Julie had the kettle on when they arrived and they had made their first introductions. Patrick had said that he remembered Julie from when she had worked at the hospital, and Julie had been pleasantly surprised by that. All the time they talked to each other they had never addressed the matter at hand directly; both Patrick and Julie seemed to think it would be unfair of them to discuss it in front of Julie. They had accepted the invitation to stay for lunch and they ate in the dining room with the French doors open, before going back to the garden.
After the meal Shelagh had said that she would do the washing up, leaving her mother and Patrick alone for the first time.
"You have a very nice house," he told her, "The garden is beautiful."
"Yes," she agreed pleasantly, there was no point in denying it, "I was very fortunate to come by this place. I got it for a very decent price, but that was before it became fashionable to live here. I suppose Shelagh will sell her flat," she added thoughtfully, "When she comes to live with you?"
He could not deny that the abrupt change in topic took him a little by surprise and it took him a moment to change mental gears. They were no longer making any kind of small talk, it was now one of the most important conversations of his life.
Julie smiled at him warmly.
"Let us not pretend, Dr. Turner," she told him, not unkindly, "That you're not just here for the sole reason of wanting to marry my daughter."
He smiled at her way of putting it.
"I was forewarned, you know," she told him, a slight glint in her eye, "Shelagh has always been the kindest of human beings- not that I take any credit for that, that's simply the way she is- and she would never risk the chance of either of us being upset by something we weren't expecting. I know your intentions, and no doubt you know what I'm going to say about them. So just say what you want to, and then I will say my piece."
He inhaled deeply.
"Mrs-..." he tried to begin.
"Julie," she corrected him, "The Mrs is a tenuous concept anyway."
"Julie," he repeated, "I love Shelagh very much. We have been together for four months but even before then I knew I loved her. We became very close after my late wife died, she did what she could to make my life at work easier and gradually she became completely indispensable. That's to say, I don't think I could live without her now. I assure you that my intentions towards her are strictly honourable; I want us to get married at the first possible opportunity."
Julie paused, taking all of this in.
"Are you and Shelagh living together now?" she asked him, a slight frown creasing her brow, "If you don't mind the enquiry."
He wondered if his answer would change her mind.
"Not officially," he told her, "But in effect..."
"It keeps working out that way?" she finished for him, and he nodded, "Good," she replied decisively, "I think Shelagh's disposed to feel quite lonely sometimes. I'm glad she's not alone."
She gave him a small but seemingly very genuine smile.
"Have you talked about practical things with her?" she wanted to know, "I don't mean about the wedding, that can always be seen to, and I don't imagine two intelligent people like yourselves will have too many disagreements over place settings. I mean things like part-time work child care- I know you have a son, Doctor, I'm not fishing for any grandchildren just yet-, how many cars you're going to have?"
"We discussed most things before I proposed to her," he told her, "Except," he continued, "There was one thing that I wanted to ask you about."
"Anything," Julie told him, "Anything at all."
"There is the question of... our earnings. I am aware that Shelagh earns just as much as I do, and if she were to accept a promotion she'd probably earn more than I do. Would you feel better if we had a pre-nuptial agreement?"
For a moment, Julie looked genuinely askance.
"Have you mentioned this to Shelagh?" she asked him.
"No," he replied, "Why?"
"Don't," she told him bluntly, "It will break her heart."
He was quiet for a moment.
"I know you only suggested it with the very best intentions, Doctor," she told him, looking at him very sincerely, "And I thank you for taking my opinion into consideration. But for heaven's sakes, never mention that to Shelagh. This I gather from what she said to me on Thursday night," she told him plainly, "She loves you, she wants to be with you forever, she doesn't want anyone else. So don't ever let her doubt that that's what she's getting. Do you understand that?"
He nodded.
"Perfectly," he replied.
"And do you understand what I'm entrusting you with?" she asked him, not a hint of lightness in her voice, no unkindness either, her tone was completely straight and open, "My daughter is my whole life, and has always been. Nothing else is important next to her happiness. If you hurt her I would not be able to answer for the consequences."
He nodded again.
"I understand that too," he replied, then added, "I didn't expect anything less."
She seemed satisfied.
"Then, Doctor, I would like it very much if you married my daughter," she told him, smiling, "And I wish you all the happiness in the world."
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