Alexander the Caracal and the Wedding

The Wedding

Alexander spent the entire morning with his master, Mr. Cook and Herman. These three men about to be married, a man of forty-five years and a man of forty-seven years both marrying a second time and a young man of nineteen marrying for the first and hopefully only time. Seeing Captain Smith outside of his uniform from the Second Boer War was most unusual for Alexander, for seeing his master in a black suit was completely atypical.

Sitting in the parlour outside of Captain Smith's bedroom, Alexander looked over at Cnut laying upon a couch while Herod was contently perched upon the chair that Captain Smith was sitting in. Sighing, Captain Smith uttered: "As if two pm couldn't get here faster. I am so excited, me and the second love of my life are getting married and may she be with me until my dying day!"

"Captain, I say hear-hear to that!" added Mr. Cook, staring out the window. "You and Igraine are going away for your honeymoon, are you not?"

"Yes, Robert." Captain Smith answered. "And I assure you, you and Eleanor will enjoy yours. Nova Scotia is very beautiful this time of year, why I remember when Captain Thorsen dragged me there to work as a fisherman! As Spartan as he was in his decoration, he did have his eccentric side." Looking over to Herman pacing back and forth, Captain Smith said: "Calm yourself, Herman. Everything will be fine."

"I've never been married before, sir." Herman said, looking first to the ceiling, then to an old painting on the wall. "What if I get cold feet? What if I find myself unable to speak?"

"You'll be fine, son." Captain Smith assured him. "Timothy went through the same thing you are now and his wedding to Collette was a great success." Hearing a knocking at the door, Captain Smith asked: "Who is it?"

From the other side came: "It's Alan, Uncle Kull!"

Captain Smith said: "Come on in, Alan!"

Alexander watched as Alan entered the room. Dressed like he was about to go to church, Alan was looking nervous in his own right. Alexander could not understand wherefore, his master's nephew just had to stand there next to Captain Smith, Mr. Cook and Herman.

Turning to look at his employer's nephew, Mr. Cook asked: "What's the matter, son? You'd think this was your wedding!"

With no hesitation, Alan replied: "I just saw Gemma in her bridesmaid dress."

Smiling at Alan, Mr. Cook walked over to the redheaded adolescent and said: "She looks radiant, doesn't she?"

Slowly nodding, Alan uttered: "Oh, she is like a goddess come to earth! I can imagine that she would make me immortal with a k—" Realizing who he was speaking to, Alan closed his mouth and looked away from his uncle's head gardener with a look of embarrassment.

Mr. Cook could only laugh: "It is alright, Alan. I approve of you and more importantly, I know that Gemma feels the same way about you. Go on! Profess your love to her!" Turning around and returning to the window, Captain Smith's head gardener stopped and turned once more to look at Alan. "Just not during the wedding ceremony."

Taking a moment to groom himself, Alexander continued to listen to the conversations. He heard Captain Smith speak of his first wedding, with Mr. Cook and Herman pointing out they had been present for it. Mr. Cook had spoken of his first wedding, the wedding of his elder daughter and wondered how long he would have to wait until Gemma was the one getting married. Herman spoke of being a member of wedding parties, but now being one of three grooms was very much different for him.

When it was time for the three grooms to go down to the ballroom, Cnut and Herod both followed after them, as did Alan, whom Alexander in turn followed. Down in the ballroom where many people, many of them the previous batch of students, some of them the family of those getting married, some of them friends. Recognizing Inspector Colm Thompson from Toronto, who was attending with his family, Alexander immediately approached and rubbed against the man's legs as he sat in his chair.