‘Of course, you'd know this,' muttered Bron, feeling a bit thick for not having realised this sooner.

‘And there's a Rosa glauca with fantastic hips. Big swathes of that could look amazing.'

‘Listen, James,' said Fenella, 'I'm terribly glad you know all this stuff and that it's there somewhere in that jungle, but if you could just hack some of it down, and a load of ivy, we'd be thrilled. Then Sukie can do what she can with it.'

‘If I can just have something to eat first..’

‘Of course you can!' Bron flew to the bread bin she'd been introduced to earlier, glad to be useful. 'I'll make it!'

‘You're a star,' said Fenella. 'Now what else can possibly go wrong?' Her phone rang again and the tension in the room shot up again. 'Sarah? Yes, Sukie's on her way. What a nice woman. And James says there's lots of stuff in the garden I just hadn't noticed.’

They chatted for a bit longer and then Fenella disconnected. 'Sarah's making place names. Apparently they weren't going to have them but now they are; it's all frightfully last minute. She sounds reasonably calm, but it's not nine o'clock yet. Anything could happen between now and-'

‘Don't say that!' said Elsa. 'Supposing Carrie's really late and I don't have enough time to finish her dress?'

‘Oh, I'm sure she won't be late for her own wedding, she's a professional!' said Bron, and looked around. Everyone was glaring at her. 'What? Oh, sorry – do you think I was tempting fate?’

The last crystal was applied to the last flower made of icing. The cake was finished at last. Hugo, who seemed to be everywhere with his camera, took a selection of shots, mostly, it seemed to Bron, while she had her tongue out in concentration.

‘That's fantastic, Bron,' he said. 'Really good. Are you going to take up a whole new career in cake-making?'

‘Probably not, but it's another string to my bow. I might;o and help James now.'

‘Just one last picture… thanks.’

'How's it going?' Bron asked Fenella who was holding the ladder for James.

‘Well, the caterers are here, they seem fine.'

‘That's good. What about the flowers?'

‘Sukie came with a van full of them, but she said she will need the ivy because you need so many. She's got Elsa making little posies for the tables. What with all the stuff James found in the garden I don't think anyone will know there was ever a problem. Luckily I don't think Carrie's instructions were all that precise.'

‘What time is she due?' Bron helped release a long single strand of ivy that James had unpeeled from the wall.

‘Quarter of an hour ago. Elsa is getting frantic. Sukie put her to work to encourage her to burn up her surplus energy.'

‘I could help Sukie, if she needs me. I can't do anything much until Carrie gets here, then Elsa and I will be fighting over her.'

‘Actually, if you could hold the ladder, I can go and see how it's all going. If bloody Rupert had let me keep the scaffolding tower, James would have been fine on his own.'

‘I'm fine on my own anyway,' said James from above.

‘No you're not. Ladders are dangerous,' said Fenella firmly. 'I'm going to break out the cake I made the other day, to keep us going. I forgot to have lunch.'

‘I'm not sure James is all that keen on cake,' said Bron. 'I would rather have a sandwich,' he said, smiling down at them. 'I didn't have lunch either.'

‘Goodness me,' said Bron, after Fenella had left, 'you must have stripped the entire building of ivy.'

‘Well, finding the ladder took a while and Rupert suddenly discovered a rose bush perfectly placed to rip the wedding dress to shreds. I had to deal with that first.'

‘Thank goodness you were here. And you thought you were only coming to help me!'

‘That wasn't the only reason,' he said. 'Right, I'm coming down now. Hang on tight and don't let me step on your hand.’

Bron watched him descend the ladder, trying not to notice that his jeans were a bit tighter and newer than usual today. It was a good look for him.

Bron and Elsa were frantically washing their hands. Carrie had arrived, half an hour late, and they both wanted her.

Bron was laughing, slightly hysterically. 'James and I were carrying the ladder back to the barn where it lived. We were just passing my pigsty when we heard the car. He turned round suddenly and the ladder when through the window! My bed is covered in glass.'

‘That's awful!' said Elsa. 'What did you do?'

‘Nothing! I just came running up here.'

‘Will James sort it out?'

‘I don't know. But I haven't got time to worry about it now. The really awful thing is, we were getting on so well, I was going to say something but…' It had happened in rather a rush and she'd had to run up here to prepare for Carrie.

‘Oh Bron… well, never mind, at least you'll have an opportunity to see him later.' Elsa sighed.

‘Have you heard from Laurence?' Bron asked.

‘No, I haven't heard from him in a while,' Elsa said as she dried her hands. No good thinking about that now. 'Right, I think I'm clean. I'd better go and find Carrie. Rupert told me she's in an awful mood.’

Bron made a face. 'My nerves are already in shreds. There's something about the sound of breaking glass that goes right through you.'

‘I heard Fenella ringing Sarah. Carrie is not happy that she's not here. Although she did know about Lily's wedding, she still expected her to be here for her.’

Bron glanced at her watch. 'She must have left by now, don't you think?’

Elsa shrugged. 'They won't have started the speeches yet, surely? Lily was getting married at two – it takes at least an hour for the ceremony, the photos and getting back to the house.'

‘She won't make it, will she? Which means we have to cope with a grumpy superstar all on our own!’

The moment Sarah had thought would never arrive finally came. Lily, on her father's arm, processed up the aisle to Purcell's 'Trumpet Tune'. She looked truly beautiful in the dress Elsa had made for her and probably only those who knew she was pregnant would notice her tiny bump. As Sarah, wearing a silk chiffon dress with a jacket in a soft yellow that toned in beautifully with Lily's underskirt, was sitting on the bride's side she couldn't hear any hissings or mutterings that might have come from the groom's section of the church. This was a relief.

As unobtrusively as possible, Sarah got the corner of her hanky up to her eyes, thinking that maybe she wasn't the cynical wedding planner she once was, and wondered briefly if Hugo had anything to do with it. Whatever the reason, her eyes took some dabbing.

Dirk, who looked young and handsome, seemed relatively serene, although there had been a bout of tears earlier, Sarah had been told.

Lily had behaved unexpectedly calmly. All the weepiness of the night before seemed to be over. Her hair and skin shone with the bloom of pregnancy and her dress looked lovely, gently opening over down the front like a gown in a medieval painting. Elsa had done wonders.

Earlier there had been a moment that caused Sarah's heart to falter, just slightly, when Lily, inevitably, had asked, 'Does my bump look big in this? Mona's really insistent that I don't look pregnant and I promised her I wouldn't.’

Sarah decided to lie. After all, it didn't actually look big, it just looked visible. 'Not at all. You look really, really lovely. I just wish Mum could have seen you.' Sarah felt her throat tighten and she swallowed.