October 19, 1798
Archie
Leigha walked towards me, on the arm of her beaming father, a vision in white velvet and lace. She held her head up proudly and smiled that serene smile of hers, the one that never fails to light me up from the inside and give me a sense of peace.
Horatio, who stood as my best man, lost his composure for a moment and I felt him lightly nudge me in the back. I think I smiled, but my nerves had taken over and I wasn't sure of anything. Two thoughts kept kept running through my mind, "My God, she's beautiful!" and "Pray, do not let me have a fit or loose my stomach!"
Her walk down the aisle towards me was interminable. The closer she got, the further away she actually seemed to be. My focus was all on her, my sweet, pretty, passionate, little Elf. I could hear the swish of her gown over the red carpeting. I could smell the flowers that decorated the church. I could hear the beating of my heart in my ears. I could see her lovely brown eyes shining with happiness, adoration, and, most importantly, love. I watched the sunlight through the windows play in the mahogany lights of her hair, and caress the softness of her porcelain cheeks.
I glanced about the church for a moment, and there in it's confines, I saw all that made the best and worst of me. My stern, disapproving, autocratic father, who now smiled and rubbed his hands gleefully; for once, his sickly, scapegrace son was doing something right in marrying a great heiress. My sweet mother, seemingly haughty in her elegant beauty, clutching her rosary and looking so very sure of herself, but overwhelmed and bewildered by all the conflicting personalities in our large family. My elder sister, Evelyn, or should I say, Sister Mary Penitence, who escaped our family at an early age to live in cloistered serenity in an Irish nunnery. My two elder brothers, Jacob and Edwin, the banes of my existence. I feared them even now; bored, disolute men with nothing to lose in seeing me made the fool, again.
Then there were my darlings, Annelise and Avery, the two who seemed the least affected by our family dynamics. They smiled and went about their merry ways, disregarding the dictates of our father and confounding our poor mother. Laughing out right at the bluster of our brothers and rolling their eyes at our pious sister. When it came to the twins, I defied my father everytime, with the harshest of consequences. They were strong and happy, sometimes sacrifice is not a bad thing.
Now, the one person who truly mattered, the only one who seemed to understand me, had just placed her hand in mine. I could feel it trembling and I saw the soft sheen of tears in her eyes and sparkling on her lashes. Oh, dearest Love, I have a thousand things to tell you, but it's all jumbled inside my head. What man would not slay a million dragons for a woman so filled with willing devotion and trust? What man could turn away from one with such beauty of spirit and soul? A fool, I tell you! And I have cease to be that.
"Do you, Archibald Fenster Kennedy..." The priest asks and I see Leigha's lips tremble with barely contained mirth. All right, I don't have the greatest of middle names. I've always consoled myself that I was named after my paternal grandfather, otherwise my middle name could be Oxnard. "...to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do!" I answer, my voice ringing with conviction. Yes! I have done the right thing in making this angel mine.
"I now pronounce you man and wife. What we have joined together in the eyes of God, let no man tear asunder."
I bend my head to kiss her sweet lips...Praise Lord.
****************************************************************
Leigha
Heaven's, I am nervous! Even the constant chatter of dear Glory cannot stop the butterflies. My Aunt Clara, fussily arranges another curl, another fold of my dress, another rose in my bouquet, until I am ready to scream. I feel confined, terrified. I don't know why it is called cold feet when it's your entire body that feels numb?
I guess in some ways, I am more fortunate than other women who must tread the path to matrimony without the benefit of even knowing anything about the man they are to spend their lives with. Those women have no clue what lies before them, whether or not their husbands are kind and gentle or rutting beasts. I know Archie, I know him as intimately as a woman could know a man. I steal a secret caress of my stomach; yes, I know Archie very well indeed.
Then why am I terrified? I believe it's because I'm going from my father's home, a place of familiarity to me, to my husband's home, a place that has no memories for me and from what I heard bears only the saddest ones for him. Let me explain this, after our wedding trip, which will be to my father's lodge in Northumbria, I am to return to live with the Kennedy's until Archie's return from the West Indies. When he comes back, sometime in April, he and I will then have time to find our own home. I am trying to convince him to find a small cottage near Portsmouth, so I will always be close to welcome him back from a voyage.
I hear the wedding march begin and I nearly bolt from the church, but then I see my father, such pride on his face. I take a deep breath and place my shaking hand on my father's arm.
"You look so like your mother on our wedding day," he whispers to me, the moistness of tears in his eyes, "you are lovely, child."
I smile, tremously. Such words from him I thought never to hear. I enter the large chapel and see him. My man... so strong, so handsome in his dress uniform. The light pouring through the stained glass windows halo around his blonde head and the shadows seem to create an illusion of wings sprouting from his shoulders. I blink and the image disappears, leaving only a smiling, nervous Archie. My heart leaps in my chest and, now, I feel only excitement and pride. This beautiful, gentle man is mine. I only hope I can remain deserving of this gift God has bestowed upon me.
I arrive at his side, the walk down the aisle seeming to have taken days, I feel his large callused hand surrounding, enveloping my smaller one. The warmth begins, spreading up my arms and into the very core of me. He looks into my eyes with those very blue orbs of his and the emotion I read in them; the desire, the love, leaves me with the urge to weep in gratitude. I feel safe. I feel at home. I feel cherished. He swallows heavily, and I know he, too, is swept away by the moment.
"Do you Leigha Elizabeth Sommes, take this man to be your wedded husband, to love, honor and obey..." I glance at Archie and mouth 'when it suits me', he looks at me with a raised brow, but I see the laughter in his eyes, "...forsaking all others until death do you part?"
"Oh, I do!" I reply eagerly, causing a stir of amusement among the guests.
The priest blesses the ring and Archie slides it onto my finger, repeating, "With this ring, I thee wed. With my body, I thee honor. And with all my worldly possessions, I thee bestow."
"I now pronounce you man and wife. What we have joined together in the eyes of God, let no man tear asunder."
I raise my lips for his kiss. We seal our promises and our happiness in the locking of our lips...Praise Lord.
The End
Archie
Leigha walked towards me, on the arm of her beaming father, a vision in white velvet and lace. She held her head up proudly and smiled that serene smile of hers, the one that never fails to light me up from the inside and give me a sense of peace.
Horatio, who stood as my best man, lost his composure for a moment and I felt him lightly nudge me in the back. I think I smiled, but my nerves had taken over and I wasn't sure of anything. Two thoughts kept kept running through my mind, "My God, she's beautiful!" and "Pray, do not let me have a fit or loose my stomach!"
Her walk down the aisle towards me was interminable. The closer she got, the further away she actually seemed to be. My focus was all on her, my sweet, pretty, passionate, little Elf. I could hear the swish of her gown over the red carpeting. I could smell the flowers that decorated the church. I could hear the beating of my heart in my ears. I could see her lovely brown eyes shining with happiness, adoration, and, most importantly, love. I watched the sunlight through the windows play in the mahogany lights of her hair, and caress the softness of her porcelain cheeks.
I glanced about the church for a moment, and there in it's confines, I saw all that made the best and worst of me. My stern, disapproving, autocratic father, who now smiled and rubbed his hands gleefully; for once, his sickly, scapegrace son was doing something right in marrying a great heiress. My sweet mother, seemingly haughty in her elegant beauty, clutching her rosary and looking so very sure of herself, but overwhelmed and bewildered by all the conflicting personalities in our large family. My elder sister, Evelyn, or should I say, Sister Mary Penitence, who escaped our family at an early age to live in cloistered serenity in an Irish nunnery. My two elder brothers, Jacob and Edwin, the banes of my existence. I feared them even now; bored, disolute men with nothing to lose in seeing me made the fool, again.
Then there were my darlings, Annelise and Avery, the two who seemed the least affected by our family dynamics. They smiled and went about their merry ways, disregarding the dictates of our father and confounding our poor mother. Laughing out right at the bluster of our brothers and rolling their eyes at our pious sister. When it came to the twins, I defied my father everytime, with the harshest of consequences. They were strong and happy, sometimes sacrifice is not a bad thing.
Now, the one person who truly mattered, the only one who seemed to understand me, had just placed her hand in mine. I could feel it trembling and I saw the soft sheen of tears in her eyes and sparkling on her lashes. Oh, dearest Love, I have a thousand things to tell you, but it's all jumbled inside my head. What man would not slay a million dragons for a woman so filled with willing devotion and trust? What man could turn away from one with such beauty of spirit and soul? A fool, I tell you! And I have cease to be that.
"Do you, Archibald Fenster Kennedy..." The priest asks and I see Leigha's lips tremble with barely contained mirth. All right, I don't have the greatest of middle names. I've always consoled myself that I was named after my paternal grandfather, otherwise my middle name could be Oxnard. "...to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do!" I answer, my voice ringing with conviction. Yes! I have done the right thing in making this angel mine.
"I now pronounce you man and wife. What we have joined together in the eyes of God, let no man tear asunder."
I bend my head to kiss her sweet lips...Praise Lord.
****************************************************************
Leigha
Heaven's, I am nervous! Even the constant chatter of dear Glory cannot stop the butterflies. My Aunt Clara, fussily arranges another curl, another fold of my dress, another rose in my bouquet, until I am ready to scream. I feel confined, terrified. I don't know why it is called cold feet when it's your entire body that feels numb?
I guess in some ways, I am more fortunate than other women who must tread the path to matrimony without the benefit of even knowing anything about the man they are to spend their lives with. Those women have no clue what lies before them, whether or not their husbands are kind and gentle or rutting beasts. I know Archie, I know him as intimately as a woman could know a man. I steal a secret caress of my stomach; yes, I know Archie very well indeed.
Then why am I terrified? I believe it's because I'm going from my father's home, a place of familiarity to me, to my husband's home, a place that has no memories for me and from what I heard bears only the saddest ones for him. Let me explain this, after our wedding trip, which will be to my father's lodge in Northumbria, I am to return to live with the Kennedy's until Archie's return from the West Indies. When he comes back, sometime in April, he and I will then have time to find our own home. I am trying to convince him to find a small cottage near Portsmouth, so I will always be close to welcome him back from a voyage.
I hear the wedding march begin and I nearly bolt from the church, but then I see my father, such pride on his face. I take a deep breath and place my shaking hand on my father's arm.
"You look so like your mother on our wedding day," he whispers to me, the moistness of tears in his eyes, "you are lovely, child."
I smile, tremously. Such words from him I thought never to hear. I enter the large chapel and see him. My man... so strong, so handsome in his dress uniform. The light pouring through the stained glass windows halo around his blonde head and the shadows seem to create an illusion of wings sprouting from his shoulders. I blink and the image disappears, leaving only a smiling, nervous Archie. My heart leaps in my chest and, now, I feel only excitement and pride. This beautiful, gentle man is mine. I only hope I can remain deserving of this gift God has bestowed upon me.
I arrive at his side, the walk down the aisle seeming to have taken days, I feel his large callused hand surrounding, enveloping my smaller one. The warmth begins, spreading up my arms and into the very core of me. He looks into my eyes with those very blue orbs of his and the emotion I read in them; the desire, the love, leaves me with the urge to weep in gratitude. I feel safe. I feel at home. I feel cherished. He swallows heavily, and I know he, too, is swept away by the moment.
"Do you Leigha Elizabeth Sommes, take this man to be your wedded husband, to love, honor and obey..." I glance at Archie and mouth 'when it suits me', he looks at me with a raised brow, but I see the laughter in his eyes, "...forsaking all others until death do you part?"
"Oh, I do!" I reply eagerly, causing a stir of amusement among the guests.
The priest blesses the ring and Archie slides it onto my finger, repeating, "With this ring, I thee wed. With my body, I thee honor. And with all my worldly possessions, I thee bestow."
"I now pronounce you man and wife. What we have joined together in the eyes of God, let no man tear asunder."
I raise my lips for his kiss. We seal our promises and our happiness in the locking of our lips...Praise Lord.
The End