would never marry her or anyone else, or that he was a male nurse at the hospital and not a doctor. Jessica stopped them and asked them to join their table for a glass of champagne.
‘A celebration?’ asked Harold.
‘A good guess, Harold,’ answered Luke.
‘It’s a stroke of luck seeing you, Cissie, and you, Bridget, dining here this evening,’ said Jessica. ‘I was going to have to track you down tomorrow morning to ask you as the first two friends I made in Newbampton to stand with me when I take Luke to be my lawful wedded husband.’
‘No! How fabulous. I can’t believe it! What am I saying, of course I can believe it,’ said Cissie breathlessly. ‘I knew when he bought you the St Laurent evening dress with the spider web jacket that he was madly in love with you. Come into my web, said the spider to the fly, and you did, Jess. Yes, of course. When, where, how? What will you wear?’
Bridget had no idea what to say. All sorts of things milled round in her head. Can Jessica marry Luke? What if she is already married? Bridget had known for months that Jessica and Luke had all but forgotten the condition she claimed to have. She
was
Jessica, she believed it, and he wanted her as whatever she wanted to be. Had a passionate love affair clouded their minds as to what they were getting themselves into? Bridget could not kill the moment for them so she followed Cissie as she went round the table and kissed them both. For a second when she gazed into Luke’s eyes she saw that he sensed her concerns, they were the same as his. After she kissed him, he placed his index finger over her lips, his way of telling her to please remain silent, and smiled as he handed her a glass of champagne.
After several glasses of the vintage wine, it was Cissie who said to the merry guests, ‘Oh, Jessica, what if you already have a husband? A husband and married to Luke? That would make you a bigamist.’
‘Not to worry, dear Cissie. I may have lost my memory but not my mind. I have never been married. I have never loved any man as I love Luke. If I had ever been married, I promise you I would know even with my memory gone.’
‘But it is possible,’ insisted Cissie.
‘Anything is possible but it’s best to remember I have never been Jessica Johnson before and so I could never have had a husband. I will marry as Jessica Johnson.’
‘And if your memory should return and you are married, what then?’ asked Harold.
Luke stepped in and took over. ‘Then we will deal with whatever choices have to be made. Nothing is going to stop us.’
Bridget knew Luke meant what he said, which in turn meant she would not only have to be a witness to the marriage of two people desperately in love, she would have to help them as well. Her mind kept tripping over the work it would take to arrange papers to enable Jessica to marry Luke.
Cissie was about to raise yet another question when Bridget, who was sitting next to her, placed a hand on her arm and said, ‘Oh, Cissie, do shut up. You take care of our dresses and leave the problems that
might
arise to me. And don’t even think of putting me in pink. You know how I detest pink. Now, that bottle looks empty to me, Luke. Are you going to do something about it or shall I?’
The engagement party was the last to leave the dining rooms. They retreated, at Bridget’s request, by police car – all of them were too full of alcohol to drive – to Rose Cottage where they drank and sang and danced to Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart love songs played by Bridget on the grand piano.
As dawn rose over the town, still and quiet apart from the police car driving the sheriff, Cissie and Harold home, Jessica and Luke crawled into the four-poster bed in her room. Happy but exhausted, she fell at once into a deep sleep in Luke’s arms.
They were married three weeks later in a private ceremony in the judge’s chambers at the courthouse while an early blizzard swirled snow through the town. Jessica
‘A celebration?’ asked Harold.
‘A good guess, Harold,’ answered Luke.
‘It’s a stroke of luck seeing you, Cissie, and you, Bridget, dining here this evening,’ said Jessica. ‘I was going to have to track you down tomorrow morning to ask you as the first two friends I made in Newbampton to stand with me when I take Luke to be my lawful wedded husband.’
‘No! How fabulous. I can’t believe it! What am I saying, of course I can believe it,’ said Cissie breathlessly. ‘I knew when he bought you the St Laurent evening dress with the spider web jacket that he was madly in love with you. Come into my web, said the spider to the fly, and you did, Jess. Yes, of course. When, where, how? What will you wear?’
Bridget had no idea what to say. All sorts of things milled round in her head. Can Jessica marry Luke? What if she is already married? Bridget had known for months that Jessica and Luke had all but forgotten the condition she claimed to have. She
was
Jessica, she believed it, and he wanted her as whatever she wanted to be. Had a passionate love affair clouded their minds as to what they were getting themselves into? Bridget could not kill the moment for them so she followed Cissie as she went round the table and kissed them both. For a second when she gazed into Luke’s eyes she saw that he sensed her concerns, they were the same as his. After she kissed him, he placed his index finger over her lips, his way of telling her to please remain silent, and smiled as he handed her a glass of champagne.
After several glasses of the vintage wine, it was Cissie who said to the merry guests, ‘Oh, Jessica, what if you already have a husband? A husband and married to Luke? That would make you a bigamist.’
‘Not to worry, dear Cissie. I may have lost my memory but not my mind. I have never been married. I have never loved any man as I love Luke. If I had ever been married, I promise you I would know even with my memory gone.’
‘But it is possible,’ insisted Cissie.
‘Anything is possible but it’s best to remember I have never been Jessica Johnson before and so I could never have had a husband. I will marry as Jessica Johnson.’
‘And if your memory should return and you are married, what then?’ asked Harold.
Luke stepped in and took over. ‘Then we will deal with whatever choices have to be made. Nothing is going to stop us.’
Bridget knew Luke meant what he said, which in turn meant she would not only have to be a witness to the marriage of two people desperately in love, she would have to help them as well. Her mind kept tripping over the work it would take to arrange papers to enable Jessica to marry Luke.
Cissie was about to raise yet another question when Bridget, who was sitting next to her, placed a hand on her arm and said, ‘Oh, Cissie, do shut up. You take care of our dresses and leave the problems that
might
arise to me. And don’t even think of putting me in pink. You know how I detest pink. Now, that bottle looks empty to me, Luke. Are you going to do something about it or shall I?’
The engagement party was the last to leave the dining rooms. They retreated, at Bridget’s request, by police car – all of them were too full of alcohol to drive – to Rose Cottage where they drank and sang and danced to Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart love songs played by Bridget on the grand piano.
As dawn rose over the town, still and quiet apart from the police car driving the sheriff, Cissie and Harold home, Jessica and Luke crawled into the four-poster bed in her room. Happy but exhausted, she fell at once into a deep sleep in Luke’s arms.
They were married three weeks later in a private ceremony in the judge’s chambers at the courthouse while an early blizzard swirled snow through the town. Jessica
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