Chapter 27.
They were married in March. The wedding was a small and simple affair conducted by a Justice of the Peace in the parlor of the Barkley house and attended only by family and a very few friends. Carl and Sarah were present and the guest of honor was Judge Andrew Barrett who had traveled from Ohio to give his daughter away in marriage for a second time.
Emily wore the lavender silk dress she'd worn for Audra's Bon Voyage party. In her hair she wore orange blossoms and on her feet she wore the most beautiful custom-made riding boots she had ever seen.
Judge Barrett found San Francisco too rowdy for his taste and Stockton a little primitive but he felt at home on the Barkley Ranch. He thoroughly enjoyed his tour of the orchards, the vineyards, the stables, the herd, and remarked frequently on the grandeur of the land, the mountains in the distance. He thought it all glorious and it helped him to understand why his daughter chose to make California her home.
He was impressed with Jarrod's legal prowess, thought Carl and Heath to be fine young men, and Audra a lovely young woman.
Victoria impressed the judge most of all. This was a woman of character and he delighted in the stories she told about his daughter, and about her son. He deduced from the tales that the matriarch herself had taken his daughter under her wing and he was deeply grateful that his daughter should finally have such a mother.
His new son-in-law, however, was remarkably different from himself and from his previous son-in-law, as well, and it took the judge a little time to warm to him. Nick was outspoken, forthright, decisive, but had a strong sense of justice and the judge came to like him very much. Nick appreciated his father-in-law's intelligence and humor. Emily was a lot like her father whether she recognized it or not and the two men formed a strong bond based on a shared love and respect for Emily, which each man recognized in the other. The judge returned to Ohio with no worries about his daughter's future in California.
Nick and Emily honeymooned in a mountain lodge that had been prepared and stocked ahead of time for them. They hardly noticed the snow outside.
Audra's wedding in June was a large and lavish affair, also held at the house, but attended by all of Stockton society and other Californians of social and political importance. She and Carl honeymooned in San Francisco, then settled down near Merced, on land he purchased to be nearer to his family.
Heath and Sarah continued to see each other and their engagement wasn't announced as much as it was assumed. They set a vague wedding date for the fall when they expected their house to be completed. Emily was glad to soon have a friend close by on the ranch.
Jarrod, too, had begun seeing Meg Travis again and Emily thought they made a good couple.
Susannah married Joseph Finch, the librarian, and they moved to Gilroy.
In some ways, Emily's life was little changed by the marriage: Silas now called her Miz Nick and she gained a little weight from dining every night at the house, though eating the rich foods sometimes made her queasy. But she continued to practice the piano, help Silas or Victoria with dinner, go riding alongside Nick, and enjoy sewing small, even stitches. She even continued to enjoy her rocking chair, now kept in the room she shared with Nick.