“Jane,” little Mrs. Herold had tears of happiness in her eyes, “it’s your wedding and have it as you please. It could be a beautiful wedding there—the white columns and the floor plan. It always has reminded me of the big house down on the plantation where your father and I were wed.” Her voice had trailed away to a soft whisper.
Jane rose from her chair and sat on the needle point stool at her Mother’s feet and leaned her head against her Mother’s knees.
“I’ll have to speak to Dick, Mrs. Hammond.”
“Only one thing I must add, Jane. We are closing our house the middle of September. The doctor has definitely decided to go to Leipzig. I have to get Mimi ready for Sheridan. If you could move the date up two or three weeks, say to the first week of September, we could manage beautifully.”
Everyone listening knew Mother Dear could do just that, manage beautifully.
That is how it happened that when twilight, September the seventh, came, all the streets for three blocks around the Hammond house were blocked with cars. The driveway was kept open and cars were rolling up to the porte-cochere to deposit wedding guests, circling the back flower bed and moving out again. Well dressed ladies in dainty summer frocks, gay young things, well groomed gentlemen were strolling up the front walk and lingering in the cool shadows on the veranda until the music invited them in.
Inside the house there was more commotion and excitement than on the outside—florist helpers, caterers, two dressmaker’s helpers, who were serving as maids, were putting last touches here and there. No one was more important than Cissy. Even in the years to come when her own Mimi would be a regal bride trailing down the steps of this same old house where Mammy had already seen two generations of joy and sorrow, she would not be busier. There was, first of all, the caterer from Louisville who was “acting Frenchy and puttin’ on airs” and “bein’ an abomination” to Mammy’s soul. Yellow Fanny, who had helped Mammy on special occasions before, was as nervous as a cat. The yard boy was dressed up in a fresh white coat opening car doors and the front screen door and at every possible chance slipping back to the kitchen window to tell those in the rear of the house what was going on out front. Fanny couldn’t stay far from the window, and Mammy herself, as eager as any one not to miss anything, would listen intently and then declare she couldn’t do anything with “so many distractions.” But she had done a great deal. The furniture was pushed back in the dining room to make room for the guests. There was a pile of white napkins on the buffet, but every available inch in the kitchen was stacked with plates and there were rows and rows of tall thin glasses waiting to be filled. Tiny rolled sandwiches, what looked to Mimi like a tubful of chicken salad, beaten biscuits—and most wonderful of all, the wedding cake, tiers and tiers of cake with a miniature bride and groom on top. The caterer knew it was a work of art but it was Mammy in her new black uniform and crisp white organdy apron and cap who, after the ceremony, would carry it in with candles flickering, place it in the center of the table and hand Miss Jane the silver cake server.
There was a green bank of luxurious ferns before the living room fireplace forming an altar. Even now, the florist’s helper was lighting the tall cathedral candles on either side. The white satin stool for the bride and groom to kneel on was placed just so. There was a profusion of cut flowers everywhere. The delicately turned bannister was wound with southern smilax and a big white satin bow crowned the newel post. Downstairs all was in readiness.
Upstairs there was an orderly confusion. Mother Dear seemed everywhere—keeping order where chaos might so easily reign. She was the puppeteer behind the scene pulling the central strings making the wedding party act. There had been so many things.
Miss Jane had been ducky about having a rainbow wedding. Nothing else would satisfy her five little campers, who were now her junior (and only) bridesmaids. She had chosen palest yellow for her gown palest yellow highlighting the deep waves in her golden amber hair and striking little sparks of fire in her deep grey eyes. She had let her hair grow longer since camp and it curled softly to her face. Her gorgeous sheaf of sunburst roses added the perfect finishing touch to the picture of a beautiful bride.