Gypsy Heart Part 7

'This is the first time I have stepped into a house of G.o.d,' Kane whispered to me and I could tell by his manner, that he was quite overawed by it as we walked down the aisle to the Vestry, in search of Parson Greenaway. We were in luck as he was there, donning his vestments. He looked up from what he was doing.

'Good day to you, Mr Johnson and Miss Johnson and you Sir, welcome to our church,' he said, looking at Kane. 'How can I help?'

'Katherine and Kane wish to marry, Parson and I am here to give my consent, as Katherine is only twenty years of age.'

'I thought it may be a wedding when I saw the young couple,' beamed the Parson, who was a slender, kindly man of about forty five years, with blonde hair, curling at the nape of his neck.

'And when had you hoped to marry?' enquired the Parson, going over to his small desk in one corner of the Vestry and reaching for a large book which was obviously a diary of church business.

'In three weeks, if possible, Parson,' I said quickly, at which words, he turned and raised an eyebrow, looking at my stomach. 'Oh no,' I said quickly, realising what he was thinking and feeling quite embarra.s.sed at the thought.

'We wish to marry soon, to enable us to travel,' explained Kane to the perplexed looking Parson.

'Travel,' he said. 'Are you a military man, then?' he asked with interest.

'No. Kane is a gypsy,' I said, without any thought.

'A gypsy,' he reiterated, his eyebrow raised even higher. 'I'm sorry. I don't know how I stand with this request,' he said, shutting his diary with a flourish.

'Please, Parson. There is no harm in it and Katherine is a good Christian girl, as you know and these lovely young people are in love,' pleaded my Uncle.

'I've no doubt they are and a fine couple they make,' he said understandingly, 'but I don't know how I stand on marrying someone who is not of the Christian faith,' he explained.

'Won't my faith do for the both of us?' I said, stepping forward. 'Could you at least read the banns while you find out how you stand?' I suggested, desperately wis.h.i.+ng this to be resolved.

'Well I could, Miss Johnson, as I know you and your Uncle so well,' he agreed, 'but I would ask that both you and Kane attend the reading of the banns each Sunday morning for three consecutive weeks.'

'Thank you, Parson,' I said with relief, for if he hadn't agreed, this would have been another obstacle to overcome.

'I will pencil in a Service of Marriage for you for June the fourteenth, if that is acceptable.'

'It is, indeed,' said Uncle Zac with joy.

'I will need you to sign a Consent form Mr Johnson, please and I wish these young people to take away this Prayer Book with the Marriage Service in and read it fully,' he instructed.

'Indeed we will, Parson,' agreed Kane.

'And where are you both residing?' was the Parson's next question.

Kane and I looked at each other, me thinking this could be another complication.

'In the clearing behind Treverrick,' Kane told him bravely.

'Both of you?' questioned the Parson, raising his eyebrow once more.

'Yes Sir,' I said honestly.

'This won't do. No indeed not,' he said. 'First of all, let me speak to Mr ...?'

'Kane O'Brien,' obliged my husband and at the thought, I wondered how high Parson Greenaway's eyebrow would rise if he knew we had already jumped the broom.

'And how long have you resided in the, eh, clearing?' was the Parson's next question.

'Four weeks,' said Kane.

'Well, that is at least in order. Now Miss Johnson, tell me, why you are not living at home?' he asked of me.

'It is only one night she has spent in the wagon with her intended's Mother, I hasten to add. She will be coming back home today.' At Uncle Zac's words, he looked at me beseechingly not to argue.

'A little holiday,' murmured the Parson. 'Well that I can understand. So I shall see you all in church on Sunday morning?' the Parson asked and we all nodded in agreement.

'Thank you,' I said to the Parson as we left. 'We really do love each other and wish to do the right thing.'

'I'm sure you do, young lady,' he murmured.

I was thankful when we stepped back out into the sunlight and as we walked back down the church path, my step was light for I knew that in three weeks, Kane and I would be able to start our journey together in earnest.

'I thought you meant it, Uncle, when you said I would be coming back home today,' I said.

'I do mean it child. Until the ceremony, you are to come back home with your Aunt and I.'

'But Uncle, my Aunt will not allow it and will make my life so unpleasant I will need to leave again,' I protested.

'Katherine,' he said, stopping and taking my hand, 'you are to do the right thing and come home. Your Aunt will think more of it than if you were to stay with Kane and his Mother in the wagon. Think about what I say,' he urged me.

'Your Uncle is right,' Kane agreed. 'If you want your Aunt's blessing, then this is the best course to take. I agree with your Uncle.'

'Very well,' I told them both, 'but if Aunt Phoebe is unpleasant to me, then I shall leave.'

'Don't be a defeatist, child. We have to coax your Aunt round to our way of thinking and this is the best thing to do, what is right and if you and Kane truly love one another, then you can wait another three weeks to be together.'

'But I can see Kane, can't I?' I asked with alarm.

'Of course you can,' agreed my Uncle. 'You won't be a prisoner, I a.s.sure you.'

'There,' said Kane. 'All is sorted out,' he said happily, taking my hand. As we walked back to the clearing and the wagon to collect my possessions, with my Uncle and the man I loved, all I could think of, was that Kane and I were to be parted again. I prayed Aunt Phoebe would agree to my going home and her words 'how would she feel if she knew the truth?' were imprinted in my mind as I returned to Northcliffe.

Chapter 9.

My Uncle and I went into Northcliffe through the back door. My heart missed a beat when I saw Aunt Phoebe making pastry with Aggie.

'Miss Katherine!' exclaimed Aggie. At her words, Aunt Phoebe looked up and saw us standing there, me feeling shame faced, which I hadn't expected to feel.

'Zachariah,' she said with her usual forceful tone. 'Why have you brought Katherine back with you, knowing how I feel?' she asked my Uncle as she went across to the sink to wash her hands.

'Katherine is to stay here in her home, until she marries Kane O'Brien,' my Uncle told his wife in a firm tone, as he placed my portmanteau on the floor and put a protective arm around me, for which I was grateful.

'I will not have the child in this house, Zachariah,' my Aunt said as firmly, wiping her hands. 'Now please go, Katherine.'

'She will not go,' said my Uncle with an authority in his voice that I had never heard before and I could see my Aunt was taken aback by his tone.

'Very well,' she condescended, 'if that is to be, the child can stay in her room.'

'She will not,' said my Uncle indignantly. 'She will eat with us and feed the chickens and come and go as she always has.' How grateful I was for my dear Uncle's words.

'As you say,' conceded my Aunt, realising that her husband would broach no argument. 'But do not expect me to be civil, or indulge in conversation with her.'

'How childish you are, Phoebe,' my Uncle told her, 'and all because the dear child has fallen in love with a man who you don't approve of, even though you do not know him.'

'And I do not wish to know him, for he is a gypsy.' My Aunt almost spat the word at him and I was shocked to say the least at the hatred she felt for Kane.

'You will be civil to him and attend church with the three of us to hear the banns read, starting tomorrow,' my Uncle told her, 'and you will be pleasant to this dear child, who has committed no sin, except to fall deeply in love.'

'A thing you would know all about,' my Aunt retorted.

'Yes, indeed, a thing I would know all about,' admitted my Uncle.

'And are you going to tell this dear child the truth about her birth?' my Aunt taunted him.

'Although we had agreed never to say anything, I will now do so, when the time is right,' my Uncle promised.

'I would dearly love to know,' I said suddenly, not realising that the truth would come from an unexpected source, very soon.

'You will know, Katherine, I promise you, but not today,' my Uncle told me gently. 'Now, let us take your belongings to your room and maybe Aggie would help you unpack.'

'A pleasure, Miss Katherine,' agreed Aggie, who had watched the scene before her, with wide-eyed interest. So I found myself back in my room again, with Aggie helping me hang my clothes once more.

'It is good to have you back, Miss,' Aggie said kindly. 'Are you to marry Mr Kane in the church then?' she asked.

'It would seem so, Aggie, for propriety's sake,' I told her, 'but if I had my way, my wedding in the clearing behind Treverrick would suffice.'

'That were a lovely day,' said Aggie dreamily, going over to look from the window. 'There's cloud bubbling up, Miss, looks like we could have some rain,' and indeed, it did rain that night, the gale from the sea causing the raindrops to lash at my window pane, as I lay in bed, thinking the weather matched my mood and the misery I felt at being parted from my beloved once more.

Next morning, the sun shone again but small clouds scudded across the sky and puddles of water lay on the ground. Aunt Phoebe breakfasted with us, but true to her promise, didn't speak except to say to me, 'I have found three pairs of sheets for you to repair Katherine, which should keep you out of mischief. I have laid them on your bed,' at which words, she rose from her chair. 'I am now going to get ready for church and I expect you to do the same, child. Let us go along with this charade for as long as it takes, for I feel it will come to nothing,' she said unkindly and as she reached the door, she turned back and said to me.

'Have you lain beside this Kane?'

'I promise you I have not Aunt,' I replied civilly.

'Then we must thank the Lord for that,' my Aunt retorted, sweeping from the room.

The four of us walked across the cliff to the church, my Aunt, Uncle, Aggie and myself me with my arm through Uncle Zac's, and trembling with antic.i.p.ation at seeing Kane. The view beyond the church was grey today and frothy brown waves tumbled after each other to the sh.o.r.e and I s.h.i.+vered, hoping that the change in the weather was not a bad omen. We sat in a pew awaiting the start of the service. The Trevartha family, with Constance's sister Patience, sat on the other side of the church in the family pew and Daniel kept looking across to me and smiling, but I had no interest in him or anyone except Kane. Where was he? I kept thinking, turning around every now and then so see if he was there, but he was not and I was admonished by my Aunt.

'Sit still Katherine. Think of what you have been taught.' The organ started to play the notes to Rock of Ages when I heard the latch on the church door rattle and I turned around to see Kane and his Mother step into the aisle and take a seat. Several other people looked too and then we started to sing the hymn, but I stumbled over the words, as all I could think of was Kane. He looked so handsome today in a white s.h.i.+rt and black jacket, his unruly black wavy hair smoothed back to look tidy, but I preferred it tussled, was my thought and I could hardly believe that Tessa had joined him. Her hair also was tied back and she wore a beautiful crocheted cream shawl, which accentuated the blackness of her hair. I hardly took notice of the sermon being read except to be full of joy as the Parson read out our names, Kane O'Brien and Katherine Johnson. The service over, I was restless to get out of the church and speak to Kane, but my Aunt held me back with a firm pressure on my arm. How I wished to struggle free but thought of Uncle Zac's words and I kept hold of my temper. Once outside in the suns.h.i.+ne, there was no sight of either Kane or his Mother and my heart sank.

'Be patient, child,' whispered my Uncle and I heeded his words, but once back at the gate of Northcliffe I could hold my anxiousness to see Kane back no longer. 'I am going for a walk,' I told the three of them and before anyone could argue, I set off for Monks Cove.

'You have your Sunday best on,' my Aunt called after me with anger in her voice and I looked down at my royal blue coloured gown and jacket made of fine silk, my royal blue bonnet with a band of black around the brim bobbing on my head and I nearly went back to change but decided against it knowing that I could be in a lot of trouble when I finally returned to Northcliffe, but my desire to be with Kane burned inside me and I carried on walking. The tide was in at Monks Cove, the waves cras.h.i.+ng on the rocks of the cliff. I removed my bonnet, untying the ribbon and then loosening my hair from its pins and I suddenly felt as free as a bird again. Reaching the clearing I could see Tessa sitting on the steps of the vardo and then I could see another vardo brightly painted and new looking and I picked up my skirts and ran. Kane appeared from behind the newer wagon, catching me in his arms as I flew towards him.

'A surprise for you little one,' he said, kissing my hair.

'Is it ours?' I asked breathlessly.

'It is indeed. My Father has brought it from Dorset as we arranged, whether I were here or not with the Trevartha's permission.' He released me from his embrace and I ran to the front of the vardo and could see it was of the barrel type, with high wheels and a stable door as on Tessa's. The colours of red and yellow were magnificent and with tears in my eyes, I could see that 'K' and 'K' had been entwined together on one side of the stable door.

'It is beautiful,' I enthused, 'and it is really ours?'

'It is Kate,' he said proudly. 'This is where we will live, love and laugh for the rest of our lives.'

'Can I go inside?' I asked excitedly.

'But of course, little one, it is yours as well as mine,' Kane told me, so we climbed the steps together and I surveyed the beautiful interior. Even the barrelled ceiling had been painted in reds and yellows to match the exterior. It was delightful. There were the two beds one above the other across the back and someone had already made the top one up with the white sheets and the crocheted edging peeping out from under the blanket. There was a stove and a china cabinet, a chest of drawers and a locker seat, all beautifully upholstered.

'Oh Kane,' I said, putting my arms around him, 'it is lovely and I can hardly wait to travel in it and sleep in it with you,' I enthused, blus.h.i.+ng when I realised what I'd said.

'We will be happy, I promise you,' Kane said softly.

'And I promise you,' I said with joy in my heart.

'But we must...' began Kane, putting me from him, 'adhere to your Uncle's wishes.

'I know,' I agreed, 'but my Aunt still thinks that it will end and very soon.'

'Never!' were Kane's words. 'Never, Kate, for now that I've found you I will never let you go.'

We stepped out into the clearing and I acknowledged Jed who said gruffly, as was his way.

'Are you pleased with your vardo, Kate?'

'I am, Jed,' I told him, as he went on his way searching for wood for the fire.

'Why did you leave the church so quickly?' I asked of Kane.

'Because I didn't want to incur your Aunt's wrath and I wanted to get back to inspect our wagon, for it was a surprise for you, but I didn't expect you to come here so soon.'

'I couldn't keep away,' I told him.

'My precious wife,' he said, holding me close once more.

'Can we walk in the meadow?' I asked him, having a sudden desire to see the poppies.

'But your lovely gown,' he said looking down at the skirts of my silk dress.