Chapter 21: Vows

The wedding was at four on Saturday, on the lawn at the Westport house, with the press behind a rope.

I wore a plain ivory dress from Sylvie's closet.

She had taken it in herself, with a needle she was not allowed to hold for long.

Ethan wore a dark suit and no cane.

Nobody in the garden said a word about it.

There were two hundred chairs.

Ethan's father sat in the front row with his hands on his knees.

Gilbert sat in the second row, alone, with nobody beside him.

Diane sat on the bride's side.

She wore cream, and her smile had been put on very carefully.

Richard did not sit.

He stood at the end of the aisle by the white rope.

When the quartet finished the processional, he walked out onto the grass in front of the whole garden.

The officiant looked at Ethan.

Ethan looked at me.

I nodded.

"Forgive the interruption," Richard said.

He did not have a microphone.

He did not need one, in that quiet.

"My name is Richard Ashcroft. I founded the Ashcroft Foundation, and I hold the controlling vote of its trust."

He paused.

"I have held it for twenty-six years, and I have never used it."

He looked at his wife.

"I am using it now."

Diane rose.

"Richard, this is not the place."

"It's the only place you'll sit still for." He did not raise his voice.

"Diane Ashcroft is removed as chair of the Foundation, as of this afternoon. I signed the papers at noon."

"The board members who are here may check them with my lawyer."

A murmur went along the rows.

Keep reading free with an account. Start They Gave The Good Match To Her And A Replacement To Me from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.