Maddie had finally married some two years ago, and now had a one-year-old son, James, who was the love of her life. As for Dilys, she had married Steven shortly after going to live with her aunt, and had recently given birth to Mathilda – an adorable baby on whom her parents doted.

‘They can both cry all the way through the service and it won’t spoil it for me,’ Ruby declared happily as Frank urged the horses into a gentle trot.

Soon the church came into sight and Ruby felt a flutter of nerves. If the extensive list of invites that Serena had been busily sending out was anything to go by, the place would be packed and the thought of all those people staring at her as she walked down the aisle was a little daunting.

‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.’ Oscar squeezed her fingers affectionately. ‘Don’t forget, I shall be with you every step of the way. But before we go in, Ruby, I’d just like to say . . .’ He cleared his throat self-consciously. ‘I’d like to say that discovering you were my daughter was one of the best days of my life. My only regret is that I never got to see you grow up, but I want you to know I’m very proud of you and I love you very much.’

‘I love you too.’ Her eyes filled and Oscar gently stroked a tear from her cheek before pulling her veil down over her face.

‘Right, my darling girl, I believe you and I have a wedding to go to. Are you quite ready?’

‘As I’ll ever be,’ she answered, and taking a deep breath she allowed him to help her down from the carriage.

Just for a moment she thought of how proud Rita, her adoptive mother, would have been today and again tears trembled on her lashes. It had been many years since Rita had died, but she would always hold a special place in Ruby’s heart, and she knew that the dear woman wouldn’t have wanted her to be sad on such an important day. She blinked her tears away; the past was gone and she had the rest of her life to look forward to, so taking her father’s arm she allowed him to lead her through the lychgate.

As she had expected, the church was filled to capacity and as the organist began to play the ‘Wedding March’, she felt a moment of panic. But then she looked beyond the congregation to where Bill was standing waiting for her with the sun from the stained-glass windows shining down on him. Her nerves melted away, and as she held her father’s arm and walked down the aisle towards him, there might have been no one but the two of them in the church.