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THE ARROW HOUSE JANUARY 7th 1924.
THE DAY WAS UNCOMFORTABLY COLD, the kind of chill that took no notice of layers of velvet and cotton, wool and brocade of the guests attire. It rolled down the hills and down through the lush fields that surrounded them, painting the sky a dull grey despite a promise of another few hours of light.
Caterina exhaled into the brisk air as she half-heartedly watched the guests exit their cars several feet away from where she stood on the church steps, giving a brief nod of head or a smile to whomever passed inside. Both the bride and the groom insisted on a small affair, with only the closest relatives and friends in attendance, but appearances had to be kept up. Nothing a Shelby did these days could go quietly and unnoticed, or not end up in the Birmingham Evening Press.
Tommy appeared in the doorway, hair neatly slicked back and a flower arrangement tucked into his suit lapel. There wasn't much thinking about who would be the best man on this day. Arthur hid the blind adoration for his younger brother quite poorly. Tommy made a motion for her to come inside just as the final car appeared, driving down the country lane that connected the manor and the church on the grounds.
The floral arrangement on the bonnet suggested it was the bride finally making her entrance.
The contrast between the bride's and groom's side of the church contrasted more than Caterina had ever experienced before. It almost made her laugh, the pressed and clean relatives on the left hand side, and the colourful mess of babbling children and tipsy revellers on the right.
The bride employed her own priest for the service, a quaker, which meant that Jeremiah Jesus stood among the guests of Arthur's side of the church, quietly chastising his teenage son. Caterina kept a wary eye on Finn's and his mischievous compatriots, the Lee cousins and a few of the younger boys not yet initiated into the Blinders but sporting the sharp cut of their hair and an even sharper tongue.
The priest had to cough purposefully several times in order to hush the attending guests. Even the bride, in the arrangement of pale yellow and oyster coloured lace subtly flashed her eyes towards the groom's side of the church, the veil barely concealing the disapproval as she glided down the aisle with her father.
Once the gaggle subsided, the priest spoke up. "Dearly beloved. We have gathered here today to join together in holy matrimony Arthur Shelby and Linda Anne Moore..."
To an extent, it came as a surprise for all of them that Linda came from a comfortable middle class family, rather for the fact that she decided to suffer through his temper and addiction to snow, and the never ending pit in his stomach for the whiskey the family exported. Catrina suspected it was the pious saviour complex that fuelled Linda's unyielding ambition to reform Arthur, and none had the heart to tell her he would not change.
