“There has been a change in the plans for this lovely evening,” Ken said and he couldn’t help glancing at Victoria. He knew she hadn’t been told of the bride switch and that when she heard, she was going to be furious—and there was no doubt in Ken’s mind that he would be her target.
He looked back at the crowd. “Everything is the same,” he said, “except that there will be a different bride and groom. And attendants,” he added with a glance at the unlovely bridesmaids near him.
That shut everyone up. In an instant, every person in the chapel, even the ones standing in the back—who were mostly Nantucketers—quit talking and looked at Ken.
For a moment, he tightened his shoulders as he awaited the onslaught, but it didn’t happen. Everyone, even Victoria, was staring at him in silence.
Ken took a breath and continued. “Glenn and Izzy decided that they wanted a more private wedding, so they and their siblings and a couple of friends flew to, uh … Lanconia to get married there.”
“Instead,” he said as he looked directly at Victoria, “Jared Kingsley and my daughter, Alix, are going to get married today.” In a reflex motion, Ken prepared to duck, for surely Victoria would start throwing things. When all she did was smile in the most self-satisfied way he’d ever seen, his jaw dropped.
When he’d recovered himself, he realized that the rest of the guests had risen from their seats and were coming for him. Only Victoria and Dr. Huntley stayed seated.
“This is our wedding!” one of the mothers was shouting. “I came here to see my daughter get married. It was bad enough that we had to fly to this place and now to—”
“Where is my son!?” the other one demanded. “We were told by that Kingsley man that Glenn and Izzy were already here. If he doesn’t—”
“Was this a plan for those two to get a free wedding?” one of the fathers said. “If you think I’m going to pay for this, you have—”
“Glenn’s mother said I could be a bridesmaid and I’m going to be one even if I have to—”
“Alix has always tried to upstage my daughter. I think Izzy was run off from her own wedding by her. It’s always been—”
At that comment, Victoria got up and confronted the woman. Victoria was taller and a great deal more majestic than she was. “How dare you say that about my daughter! She has always helped Izzy! Alix has—”
Ken looked over the audience. Everything was in chaos. The front door had opened and as many Nantucketers who could fit into the chapel were lined up along the walls and enjoying it all immensely. All the bride’s and groom’s relatives were out of their seats and shouting—at Ken, at each other, and at Victoria, who was holding her own in the yelling. She was defending Alix, Jared, the island, and the institution of marriage. Overall, the tone of anger was rising by the second.
The only person still seated was Dr. Huntley. In fact, he was calmly reading the menu for the coming meal. To look at him one would have thought there was nothing going on around him, that everything was peaceful.
It was only when one mother shoved the other that Dr. Huntley looked up. He didn’t seem concerned, just mildly interested.
Ken sidestepped the two angry fathers, who were arguing over money, to get to the shoving mother just as the other one raised her hand to administer a slap. Ken grabbed the slapping woman’s wrist and held it firmly. Holy mackerel, but the woman was strong! She pulled against him so hard he didn’t know if he was going to be able to hold her.
Meanwhile the other mother—the shoving one—turned to Victoria. “Is all this your doing? Is it some kind of stunt to help sell those books of yours?” She was practically spitting in Victoria’s face, which was now as red as her hair.
A movement caught Ken’s eye and he saw Dr. Huntley put his hands on his knees and slowly stand up. As Ken struggled with the woman—they were now almost wrestling—the man made his way through the screaming crowd to the front of the chapel to stand before the big stained-glass window.
He stood there for a moment, shaking his head as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, then he took a breath and bellowed the word, “QUIET!”
To say it was loud was an understatement. The windows seemed to draw inward, the stained glass quaked, and a number of chairs fell onto the tile floor.
Everyone froze. Hands on other people’s hair, arms in midair, sentences being shouted all came to a halt.
“Sit!” Dr. Huntley ordered and, meekly, everyone began to go back to their seats. He waited but not for long. Ken stepped back against the wall; Victoria took her seat. All eyes were on Dr. Huntley. He clasped his hands behind his back as he walked and began talking.
It was his stance, his hands, and especially his voice, that made Ken feel he was seeing a ship’s captain from long ago. A man who had to be heard over a raging sea. A man who could take charge over an entire crew.
“You will get your money back,” Dr. Huntley said in a voice that didn’t allow any interruptions. “That you should consider coins over integrity, over kindness, is despicable. The lot of you harassed young Isabella until she ran off from her own wedding. All of you should be ashamed!” Turning, he glared at each one of them, his eyes lingering on the two mothers.
“That you should do something like that to your own kin is without honor. It is the lowest form of inhumanity. And especially when that lovely girl is carrying a child!” He stopped to scowl at them.
“I didn’t mean—” Izzy’s mother began.
“Quiet, woman!” Dr. Huntley shouted so loudly that the windows rattled.
He waited in silence for a moment, then lowered his voice. “Outside of this room is a bride. Whether you believe her to be the right one or not, she is due the respect that all brides deserve. And you will show it! Do I make myself clear?”
He waited until he’d seen every guest nod his or her head. As for the Nantucketers in the back, they were smiling as though they were at last seeing the world set in its proper order.