‘She’s marrying him, you daft cow, how much keener can she be?’ Bella tutted. ‘Look at her! She’s beaming. If I, on the other hand, was about to make a lifelong commitment, I would be shit scared.’

‘All right, you two, settle down!’ Heather Kellow kept the peace the way she had since they’d all been at playschool, when regular fights would break out between them, usually over Play-Doh or whose turn it was to go on the trike. ‘Right, this is where we leave you, my darling.’ Her mum kissed Merrin softly on the cheek and ran her fingertips under her chin. ‘My amazing girl. May you and Digby be as happy as your daddy and me. That’s all I want for you. All I’ve ever wanted for you.’

‘And walk carefully up the aisle – don’t bloody fall over!’ Her gran offered the sage advice as she linked arms with her daughter-in-law, and the two women disappeared inside the wide oak door. Merrin watched them walk away slowly, with a small reluctance to their gait and leaving a kind of sorrow in their wake. And she understood.

The girls fell silent and took up their place behind Merrin as her dad stood by her side. She brought her bouquet to her nose and inhaled the sweet scent of lily of the valley.

‘I’m going to keep this for ever, preserve it. It’s beautiful, isn’t it, Dad?’ She held it out so they could both admire it.

‘It is, my love, but no flower can match you today, none. Digby is a lucky man and if he treats you right, he’ll be my son.’

‘Oh, Dad!’ She slipped her arm through his and, with her heart full, waited patiently, as instructed by the vicar, for her musical cue: the opening bars of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ – Digby’s mother had insisted on the tune.

Her dad patted her hand and rocked on his heels nervously as the vicar appeared on the front step.

‘Flippin’ ’eck,’ she heard Bella say softly. ‘Oh Lord above, help me. I think I might fancy the vicar!’

‘Well, you would, Bells, he’s wearing trousers,’ Ruby whispered back.

‘He’s wearing a frock, actually,’ Bella corrected.

‘Not that that’d stop you,’ Ruby whispered. ‘We all remember the incident in The Loft nightclub.’

‘It was dark!’ Bella hissed. ‘And she was very persuasive.’

Merrin swallowed her laughter; this was not the time or place for such discussions. Yes, she liked a laugh with her girls, but this was her wedding day and she felt the full, glorious weight of it.