‘But he did give me a message – some news, if you will.’ Again he swallowed and exchanged a brief anxious look with her dad.

‘What news? Has something happened?’ Her thoughts raced as she pictured her beloved. Had he lost the ring? Fallen out with his mother? She knew things between them could sometimes be a little fraught and worried that in the heat of the moment, with so much going on, maybe they had had a tiff? She thought of all the possibilities and all the solutions, deciding not to let anything spoil her day.

‘He is fine.’ The vicar paused and licked his dry lips. ‘But . . . but he is not coming.’

She shook her head; it was as if the vicar were speaking another language. ‘Not coming where? He’s what? Isn’t he . . .’ She turned in the chair and this time pointed towards the main church.

‘Merrin.’ He sounded her name with conviction and it drew her attention. ‘Digby is not coming here today to get married. He told me he’s going away and that there will not be a wedding today.’

‘What are you talking about? Don’t be so daft.’ She studied the vicar’s face, waiting for the punchline. ‘Of course there’s going to be a wedding; I’ve got my dress on! My . . . my mum’s in the church and the girls are . . . the girls are outside and . . . and we’ve booked the honeymoon suite . . .’ Suddenly it was as if the air had been sucked from the room. ‘I can’t breathe!’ She scrabbled to reach the buttons at the back of her frock and tore at the shawl collar across her chest, as if it were suffocating her.

‘I’ll fucking kill him!’ her dad yelled. ‘I will fucking kill the stuck-up little shit! Thinks he can butter me up with a few fancy bottles of red plonk and a kind word, and then he does this!’

To her surprise, the Reverend Pimm didn’t offer any words of defence on Digby’s behalf or try to calm her dad. Instead he poured a glass of water from a jug and handed it to her.

‘Take deep breaths, Merrin. Take deep breaths and sip some water.’

‘I want to . . . I want . . .’

‘Yes?’ He bent low and looked into her face, as if he might be able to help with her request. But the truth was she didn’t know what she wanted.

‘So what do we do now, Vicar?’ her dad asked, as he pulled the tie from around his neck and yanked at the collar until it was loose, the buttons undone.

‘Would you like me to talk to the congregation? I can keep it vague, thank them all for coming and send them home?’ He spoke slowly and softly in the voice he had used when they had buried Gramps.