It’s the first Saturday in September and I am getting married in approximately three hours. It’s only been nineteen weeks since Rupert proposed in Sadie’s garden – much to Sadie’s horror, she was under the impression that the perfect wedding would take at least a year to organize – but the day has arrived. Originally, I had thought that we wouldn’t tie the knot until the following summer, but Rupert was keen to make things official and once I had come around to the idea of a quick wedding, I had set my heart on September – my favourite month. Other people didn’t seem quite so keen.

‘September? Really?’ Sadie says, as I tell her and Amanda over lunch once Rupert and I have it confirmed. ‘Well… I suppose September is a nice time to do it.’

‘You do know Rupert and Caro got married in September?’ Amanda says, a frown creasing her brow.

‘I… Rupert said they were married at the end of the month. We’ll be getting married on the seventh,’ I say, my heart sinking. Once I had discovered that little fact, I wasn’t at all sure about getting married the same month as Rupert and Caro, but Rupert had told me I was being silly. That it didn’t matter what month we were married in, just that we did it soon, because he doesn’t want anyone else to snap me up. I had laughed, although if I am really, truly, honest with myself, I would have preferred a little more time. Deep down I know I am doing the right thing, but what happened with Harry has left me battle-scarred.

‘I suppose you must do what you feel is right,’ Sadie says, ‘if you think September is OK, then September is OK. Although personally, I always thought April was the perfect month for a wedding.’ I remember feeling relieved, as though she had given Rupert and I her blessing.

Now, I am in a hotel room, mere hours away from saying, ‘I do’.

‘Hold still, let me shove these pins in.’ Sadie stands behind me in the mirror, her mouth full of bobby pins that she pokes relentlessly into the back of my up-do. ‘There. God, Em, you look stunning.’ Sadie holds a small hand mirror up to the back of my head to show me, and I preen this way and that, secretly a little amazed by the transformation I’ve undergone.