Chapter 15

“Your Graces, my Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to welcome you and thank you all for attending this wonderful day.

“When Freya asked me to act in place of her father and escort her down the aisle today I was filled with so many emotions. Surprise, pride and more than a little trepidation. As my thoughts turned to this moment, at first I was unsure what to say, to find the right tone. After much deliberation the answer was staring me in the face; the name of this speech. I tried to view Freya through the eyes of Robbie Anderson, her father.

“All fathers are proud of their daughters but I look back over what Freya has achieved, what she has overcome, arriving on the Shetland Bus, alone and orphaned, to the land of her father in the dark days of 1940. The journey of the last 44 years has been marked by many achievements, both personal and professional. It has highlighted her resolve, her immense strength of character and shown her capacity to overcome adversity that would overwhelm a lesser person.

“These years have also shown her kindness and graciousness, examples of which I have seen on an almost daily basis. Freya shows how someone, no matter how humble their beginning, or the challenges they have to face, can succeed in life with intelligence, curiosity and an understanding of humanity. And to that I can add, a loving partner.

“I also see someone who one day soon will stand at the pinnacle of her profession, attaining that distinction through a career of sustained excellence and by displaying an ability that cannot be overlooked or dismissed.”

Andrew coldly looked around the room, holding the pause for a moment or two beyond what was comfortable.

“Having spent the summer as a guest of Jim and Freya it is clear that they love each other and bring so much joy into each other’s lives. I know that the rest of their lives will be filled with this love and joy.

“What I am most certain of is that Robbie and Ingrid Anderson would be proud, happy and full of love for their daughter and the fine man that she is marrying.

“So I ask you to be upstanding and join me; I give you James Barnes, Baron Barnes, Freya Moray, Lady Barnes, our friends Jim and Freya, the bride and groom.”

Amid the scraping of chairs and sounds of everyone repeating the toast, Andrew sank onto his chair, with a long heartfelt exhalation. This moment of tranquility lasted all of two seconds before he was hauled up and hugged fiercely by Freya. Apparently, he had made her cry again. Jim shook his hand and thanked him before they resumed their chairs.

“What are you going to be like when it is our own daughter getting married?”

Andrew sat there goldfishing as Suzanne laughed.

“Too easy Andrew, too easy.”

Someone was being naughty, deliberately. Hmmm. Now Andrew had always thought there were only two speeches but he discovered it was two other speeches. The groom spoke between the father of the bride and the best man. Andrew was sure someone had mentioned this but it had not registered with him. So he was surprised when Jim stood up next.

“That is the second time in three days that young man has made my wife sob tears of happiness.”

Jim moved on and the rest of the speech was heartfelt and funny particularly as he talked about Moira, the only bridesmaid. Finally it was Lord Wylie’s turn and he too kept it short and light. There were a couple of funny anecdotes from Jim’s youth but as Andrew once had to sit through a 40-minute best man speech, no really, he too went for the less is more approach and had the whole thing wrapped up in under five minutes. Andrew thought the speeches in total took less than 15 minutes, including all the toasts. After the cake, his final official act of the wedding was the second dance. Jim would dance with Moira and Andrew would dance with Freya, then he was free. They talked as Andrew shuffled and Freya glided round the room.

“Thank you for that Andrew. I didn’t expect you to reference Mum and Dad in the speech, and just like the painting the emotions caught me by surprise. Thank goodness Kari had extra Kleenex in her bag, otherwise I would have looked like a panda. We are going to miss having you around the place. I know you were away for some of the time but it was nice to have you stay with us. You are always welcome to stay whenever you want. We have the other guest room if Moira and Lars or anyone else comes to stay. Will we see you before term?”

“I don’t think so. We are flying back to Edinburgh directly and then I am driving to Cambridge the weekend after. But I will be down early in the term to get the computer and I am sure I will be down at other points during the term. We have to set up a meeting with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund so I will definitely be in London.”

“How was dinner?”

“Well, initially I was thinking unkind thoughts about you when the Duke and Duchess arrived at the table but she did confess to asking to sit with us. What was great was that Leslie and Julian got to have their moment in the limelight, Mhairi chipped in as well, as did Malcolm Rifkind. As a way of distracting me in the run up to the speech it worked. Suddenly it was my ‘father of the bride moment’.”

“Well you did wonderfully.”

The song ended, with Andrew resisting the temptation for a big dip at the end, and Freya kissed him on the cheek. Her eyes said so much and he felt humbled. After that Andrew stayed with Suzanne for most of the rest of the evening. He was done being ‘on’ and was impatient for the evening to end. When Neil had Suzanne up for a dance Edith pulled him up and Andrew thought it was to dance but she led him over to the third head table where Jean Wylie was sitting chatting. As Andrew got closer he saw that it was the Countess of Inchcape who he had met at Hogmanay. Once again three formidable women shepherded him into a chair where they could talk comfortably.

“Good evening your ladyships.”

That was as far as he got.

“I think we can dispense with formalities. You know I am Fiona.”

Andrew nodded and waited for them to start.

“That was interesting speech Andrew.”

Nope, he wasn’t going to bite on that one.

“Heavens are we really that terrible?”

“Would you be offended if I said yes?”

Peals of laughter.

“Do you remember what I told you at Hogmanay? What is commonly said is that behind every great man there is a woman. When in reality in front of many great women is a man blocking her path. I wanted to ask you about the pause. It was just long enough to start to become uncomfortable as you gazed around the room with a cold expression. But then you effortlessly brought it back on track. I have to say that was a pretty blunt move.”