she had thought about much before, but now it seemed exactly right. And he was so handsome. And he was so confident.
“We’re not getting any younger,” he reminded her, and indeed they were not.
Still, Mary vomited twice on the day she had to tell Miss Vera she was to marry Stan Thomas. She couldn’t put it off any longer and finally broke the news in the middle of July. But the conversation, surprisingly, was not difficult at all. Vera did not become enraged, although she had frequently become enraged over much smaller issues. Vera made her “this is a big mistake” statement as a concerned aunt, and then resigned herself to the idea entirely, leaving Mary to ask all the panicky questions.
“What will you do without me?” she asked.
“Mary, you sweet, sweet girl. Don’t let it cross your mind.” This was accompanied by a warm smile, a pat on the hand.
“But what will I do? I’ve never been away from you!”
“You are a lovely, capable young woman. You’ll be fine without me.”
“But you don’t think I should do this, do you?”
“Oh, Mary. What does it matter what I think?”
“You think he’ll be a bad husband.”
“I have never spoken a word against him.”
“But you don’t like him.”
“You’re the one who has to like him, Mary.”
“You think I’ll end up poor and alone.”
“Oh, you never will, Mary. You’ll always have a roof over your head. You’ll never end up selling matches in the city or something dreadful like that.”
“You think I won’t make friends here on the island. You think I’ll be lonely, and you think I’ll go crazy in the winter.”
“Who wouldn’t make friends with you?”
“You think I’m loose, running around with a fisherman. You think I’m turning out to be like my mother.”
“The things I think!” Miss Vera said, and laughed.
“I will be happy with Stan,” Mary said. “I will.”
“Then I couldn’t be happier for you. A happy bride is a radiant bride.”
“But where should we get married?”
“At a church of God, I dearly hope.”
Mary fell silent, as did Miss Vera. It was a tradition for Ellis brides to marry in the gardens of Ellis House, attended by the Episcopal Bishop of Concord, boated in for the occasion. Ellis brides had lavish weddings, witnessed by every available member of the Ellis family and by all the family’s dearest friends. Ellis brides had elegant receptions at Ellis House. So when Miss Vera Ellis suggested a marriage at an unnamed “church of God,” Mary had reason to be silent.
“But I want to get married here, at Ellis House.”
“Oh, Mary. You don’t want that headache. You should have a simple ceremony and get it over with.”
“But will you be there?” Mary asked, after a long while.
“Oh, darling.”
“Will you?”
“I would only cry and cry, darling, and spoil your special day.”
Later that afternoon, Mr. Lanford Ellis—Vera’s older brother and the reigning patriarch of the family—called Mary Smith-Ellis to his room to congratulate her on her forthcoming marriage. He expressed his hope that Stan Thomas was an honorable young man. He said, “You should buy yourself a pretty wedding gown,” and he passed her an envelope. She picked at the flap, and he said, “Don’t open it here.” He gave her a kiss. He gave her a squeeze on the hand and said, “We have always had the fondest feelings for you.” And he did not say more.
Mary didn’t open the envelope until she was alone in her room that evening. She counted out a thousand dollars in cash. Ten hundred-dollar bills, which she slipped under her pillow. That was a great deal of money for a wedding gown in 1956, but, in the end, Mary was married in a flowered cotton dress that she had sewn for herself two summers earlier. She didn’t want to spend the money. Instead, she decided to hand the envelope and its contents to Stan Thomas.
That money was what she brought to the marriage, along with her clothing and the sheets from her bed. These were all her possessions, after decades of service to the Ellis family.
In the Ellis mansion in Concord, Ruth Thomas’s mother showed her to her room. They had not seen each other for some time. Ruth didn’t like to visit Concord and rarely did. There had been some Christmases, in fact, when Ruth had elected to stay in her room at boarding school. She liked that more than being in Concord and the Ellis mansion. Last Christmas, for instance.