Read Online Empress Bianca by Lady Colin Campbell - Free Book Online

remnants of his humble Welsh origins. Instead they heard what they thought was the sound of a middleclass British gentleman: someone who might not be rich or grand but who, judging by his manners and his deportment, must be well bred.
    As a foreigner, Harold had made the leap from the working to the middle class. Thereafter, there was never any question of his ever returning to Britain to live. He liked being a British gentleman, and he could only be taken for one so long as he lived outside of Britain and the English-speaking world. And as long as he spoke a foreign language. The result was that Harold seldom spoke English, except to Bianca, Leila and the staff at the British consulate, who invariably made allowances for the British abroad. Harold was easily able to adhere to the habit of a lifetime when he stood up to make his speech as father of the bride, if only because none of the guests spoke English. Flanked by the flowered arch, a microphone in his hand, he welcomed his guests in Spanish and proceeded to sing the praises of his daughter in the tongue of the land.
    Bernardo, whose only language was Spanish, did the same in his speech, while Bianca sat back and enjoyed the high point of her life.
    To Bianca, it seemed unlikely that life would ever get better than this. Here she was, marrying the man she craved and embarking on a life that would doubtless provide her with a Latin version of the American dream: handsome husband, three or four children, an active social life, increasing prosperity. Ultimately, there would also be a big house with four bedrooms and en suite bathrooms designed by Mexico’s leading architect - whoever that happened to be by the time she and Bernardo could afford thatrealization of the dream. She was going to have a perfect life, with love, money, kids, happiness, servants and a place in bourgeois society so that she could keep herself gainfully amused while Bernardo did a man’s work and brought home a man’s wages.
    At the end of Bernardo’s speech, Bianca rose to cut the cake with him. This was the end of the speeches, she knew, and she felt a sense of rising expectation as soon as she and Bernardo cut the cake and he fed her a slice, which she sexily took from his fingers, her teeth brushing provocatively against the skin of his fingers as she did so. Then the cake was whisked away by the houseboy to be cut up in the kitchen before being distributed amongst the guests who rose and toasted the health and happiness of the bride and groom in champagne.
    As was typical with brides and grooms of that time, Bianca and Bernardo were in an inordinate haste to down their champagne. No sooner did they drain their glasses than they flew into the house to change into their going-away outfits. This caused an amused ripple of laughter from the guests, all of whom understood the new bride and groom’s sense of urgency. These, after all, were still the days when newlyweds literally could not wait to get into bed, to unleash all the pent-up ardour that the rules of bridal virginity had confined them with until this moment. The result was that most brides and bridegrooms in those days behaved exactly as Bianca and Bernardo did, the bridal couple being invariably the only people at their own wedding reception who left just as the fun was starting.
    Once Bianca and Bernardo were in the house, however, they were restricted by the prevailing customs of the day, aimed at discouraging the bride and groom from temptation until they were safely alone in their honeymoon suite. The bridesmaids helped Bianca out of her wedding dress and into her pale-blue silk suit with matching hat and gloves in her bedroom, while Bernardo’s best man performed the honours of removing his studs in the guest bedroom.
    Only after Bianca and Bernardo were fully clothed were they allowed out of their respective dressing rooms. Bianca, looking like the young matron she had now become upon matrimony, walked arm in arm down the stairs