Crown Matrimonial
More Wimseyfic. After Prostration and before Fluff.
Wimsey-Vane. On the 8th October at Caxton Hall, London, Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, second son of the late Gerald Mortimer Bredon Wimsey, 15th Duke of Denver, to Harriet Deborah Vane, only daughter of the late Henry Vane, M.D., of Great Pagford, Herts.
Peter's death certificate being finally rescinded, they were free to marry. Fully disentangling his financial affairs would take longer, but that could wait. They married quietly before the Registrar on a Monday, with Parker and Lady Mary as witnesses. The new flat was not yet ready, so that evening they dined in a quiet restaurant in Soho before returning to Mecklenburgh Square. The following week, Peter left for Germany, to take up his service with the War Crimes Investigation Unit.
Extract of a letter from Helen, Duchess of Denver to Lady Grummidge:
... My dear! Can you believe it, Peter wires that he is married, yes, actually married, to that Vane woman of all people, and that the official notice will appear in the Times next week! Do you remember, he had a thing for her years ago? Though mercifully it came to nothing at the time. Probably nobody remembers about it now. I do think it would have been better, though, if they had chosen not to announce it in the papers.
I am very thankful that Gerald and I were not invited to the wedding (in a Register Office, thank God!), but I wish Peter would stop springing surprises on us. I suspect my mother-in-law of knowing all about it. However she is creaking with arthritis these days, so she could hardly have gone up to Town without telling us.
Well, it’s hardly the best match, but Harriet (as I suppose I must now call her) can’t be a day younger than 42, so at least whatever is left of the estate should still go to Jerry's boys. Obviously we are relieved that Peter is not dead after all, but it is so tiresome about the money. And I do hope my new sister-in-law can be trusted to look after Peter. He was in quite the state when he first came back, and with Jerry the way he is, we do not need another invalid in the family. I'm afraid Gerald caught Jerry with a hip flask again this morning. He had been doing so well since the summer, and we can't think who gave it to him...
Extract of a letter from Honoria Lucasta, Dowager Duchess of Denver, to her daughter Lady Mary Parker
Polly dearest,
Thank you so much for Peter's wedding photograph. He looks so serious! Just like the day he had his first watch, and could hardly bear himself for fear it would come to pieces in his hands, or turn out not to be real, or something. Harriet looks genuinely lovely. As you know, I do wish I could have been there, but my arthritis has been bothering me a lot lately. It is quite the familial failing, and poor dear Paul was crippled towards the end, so I do hope that you have inherited the Wimsey genes in this respect at least, though really, you have turned out to be a Delagardie in your old age, though I never would have expected it when you were running about with that fellow Goyles.
Do you think dear Harriet loves Peter in the way he really needs? I shall know in a minute when I see her. Peter has promised that they will visit this weekend, so nice of them, because he is leaving next week. Harriet has written to me about this Germany business. She thinks it is good for Peter to be working, but is afraid that the work may be upsetting. And while he is much better since the summer, it is likely to be quite a strain. So I do hope the ridiculous Foreign Office, or Military Intelligence, or whoever it is, looks after him properly. And I hope Germany is not too damp, as damp does not suit him.
I am so pleased to hear that Peterkin is getting on well at St Paul's, and that he enjoys taking the bus on his own. I am enclosing his birthday present. Do tell him to buy what he likes with it, and not to worry about what his mother thinks....
Vincent Challoner to Reginald Newte, of the publishing firm Bonne and Newte.
Dear Reginald,
My client informs me that she wishes to continue to publish under her maiden name. However correspondence can now be addressed to her as Lady Peter Wimsey, 110C Piccadilly. She does not wish the fact of her marriage to be used in publicity for "Murder in York Minster" due to her husband's sensitive position in military intelligence.
Yours sincerely,
Vincent Challoner
Wimsey-Vane. On the 8th October at Caxton Hall, London, Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, second son of the late Gerald Mortimer Bredon Wimsey, 15th Duke of Denver, to Harriet Deborah Vane, only daughter of the late Henry Vane, M.D., of Great Pagford, Herts.
Peter's death certificate being finally rescinded, they were free to marry. Fully disentangling his financial affairs would take longer, but that could wait. They married quietly before the Registrar on a Monday, with Parker and Lady Mary as witnesses. The new flat was not yet ready, so that evening they dined in a quiet restaurant in Soho before returning to Mecklenburgh Square. The following week, Peter left for Germany, to take up his service with the War Crimes Investigation Unit.
Extract of a letter from Helen, Duchess of Denver to Lady Grummidge:
... My dear! Can you believe it, Peter wires that he is married, yes, actually married, to that Vane woman of all people, and that the official notice will appear in the Times next week! Do you remember, he had a thing for her years ago? Though mercifully it came to nothing at the time. Probably nobody remembers about it now. I do think it would have been better, though, if they had chosen not to announce it in the papers.
I am very thankful that Gerald and I were not invited to the wedding (in a Register Office, thank God!), but I wish Peter would stop springing surprises on us. I suspect my mother-in-law of knowing all about it. However she is creaking with arthritis these days, so she could hardly have gone up to Town without telling us.
Well, it’s hardly the best match, but Harriet (as I suppose I must now call her) can’t be a day younger than 42, so at least whatever is left of the estate should still go to Jerry's boys. Obviously we are relieved that Peter is not dead after all, but it is so tiresome about the money. And I do hope my new sister-in-law can be trusted to look after Peter. He was in quite the state when he first came back, and with Jerry the way he is, we do not need another invalid in the family. I'm afraid Gerald caught Jerry with a hip flask again this morning. He had been doing so well since the summer, and we can't think who gave it to him...
Extract of a letter from Honoria Lucasta, Dowager Duchess of Denver, to her daughter Lady Mary Parker
Polly dearest,
Thank you so much for Peter's wedding photograph. He looks so serious! Just like the day he had his first watch, and could hardly bear himself for fear it would come to pieces in his hands, or turn out not to be real, or something. Harriet looks genuinely lovely. As you know, I do wish I could have been there, but my arthritis has been bothering me a lot lately. It is quite the familial failing, and poor dear Paul was crippled towards the end, so I do hope that you have inherited the Wimsey genes in this respect at least, though really, you have turned out to be a Delagardie in your old age, though I never would have expected it when you were running about with that fellow Goyles.
Do you think dear Harriet loves Peter in the way he really needs? I shall know in a minute when I see her. Peter has promised that they will visit this weekend, so nice of them, because he is leaving next week. Harriet has written to me about this Germany business. She thinks it is good for Peter to be working, but is afraid that the work may be upsetting. And while he is much better since the summer, it is likely to be quite a strain. So I do hope the ridiculous Foreign Office, or Military Intelligence, or whoever it is, looks after him properly. And I hope Germany is not too damp, as damp does not suit him.
I am so pleased to hear that Peterkin is getting on well at St Paul's, and that he enjoys taking the bus on his own. I am enclosing his birthday present. Do tell him to buy what he likes with it, and not to worry about what his mother thinks....
Vincent Challoner to Reginald Newte, of the publishing firm Bonne and Newte.
Dear Reginald,
My client informs me that she wishes to continue to publish under her maiden name. However correspondence can now be addressed to her as Lady Peter Wimsey, 110C Piccadilly. She does not wish the fact of her marriage to be used in publicity for "Murder in York Minster" due to her husband's sensitive position in military intelligence.
Yours sincerely,
Vincent Challoner