The rest of the week passed in somewhat of a haze and all of a sudden, the morning of the anticipated life altering day commenced.
Rose had barely slept that night. Remembrance of the previous night she had been tossing and turning was constantly on her mind. Reliving all the intervals on which their first meeting had its foundation. Rethinking about all the wonders the Doctor had introduced her to; broadening her view of the existing universe so extensively, she still had some difficulty processing how different her life would be from this day forth.
The events of the day before her, flashed through her mind the instant conscious thought made her aware of the light shining through her window.
There was a soft tick and smiling broadly, Rose leaped out of the bed and towards the window.
He was there.
With none around to witness the tête-à-tête, Rose leaned on the windowsill.
"Some cultures deem it back luck to see the bride before the appointed moment, however, since you are not in your wedding gown yet, I dear say, luck will remain safely at our side for now."
"For now?"
The Doctor nodded, quite serious, although Rose distinctly thought she saw a twitch in the corner of his mouth, before he said: "Yes, of course. There is no need for luck once I have you for my wife."
His wide grin was as infectious as ever and Rose's melodious laugh filled the morning air.
"You Sir, are not dressed yet." She pointed out, her tone of voice teasing.
"I am so. More so than you are at the moment, Miss frivolity."
Rose giggled unladylike and looked round at a soft knocking sound.
"Alas, I have to leave you for the moment, the make-up is at hand."
"Then I will depart reluctantly and ready myself as well."
"Wait!" Rose yelled. Upon realising her error, her hand swiftly flew to her mouth. When no one came round the house inquisitive, she released her breath and rolled her eyes in relief.
The Doctor laughed softly and eager awaited her reason for detaining him.
"It is a custom, I do not know if you are familiar with it. I did not entirely follow the rules, for I am meant to have done the needlework myself. Yet I do not wish to embarrass you, to make you wear something terribly messed up, so I went to the tailors instead. Yesterday, when my mother had her business there, I-"
She hesitated, suddenly very shy. Picking something up from under the sill and blushing ferociously, she beckoned him closer.
"I had to guess your size, I had it taken in a bit. I saw the colour and it immediately reminded me of you. I-"
Hesitating again, and hearing another knock behind her, she tossed the package down without further ado.
The Doctor caught it, opened it, was astounded and then his huge wide beam appeared.
He held up the blue shirt in a triumphant manner, wordlessly giving his promise to heed her wish.
Rose felt relieved beyond measure and smiling, motioned him to scurry away.
In turning, he blew her a swift kiss, before hastily retreating himself from under her window. Rose watched him run away and breathing out a happy sigh, she answered the third knock and the maid came in to assist her.
Not long after, Mrs. Tyler came in to fuss about. Giving orders, sending out and calling in servants, directing the maids as to hairstyle and jewellery. Rose let her be. The one thing she did absolutely not remove, was her engagement ring. Her mother could rant all she liked about how the wedding ring would have to be on the left hand, but Rose was adamant. The Doctor had put it there, so there it would remain.
"You do know your father and I will have to give you permission, for you are not one and twenty yet."
"Do you not desire me to marry a wealthy Lord, then? He would be cross I gather, should I remove his gift. He would consider it a sign of unwillingness and may wish to forgo the match altogether."
Rose knew this to be a falsehood off course, but sometimes it was necessary to mislead her mother a little, for the sake of peace. And Mrs. Tyler was very sensitive to the alleged threat, she did not speak of the ring again.
The beautiful dress was brought in and Rose took a deep breath, becoming more and more conscious of the reality of the events. The dress was made of silk, designed with a low square cut, and a simple bodice, only adorned with four bows. The sleeves were measured according to fashion and trimmed with white lace. The skirt was pleated, longer on the back side and here and there decorated with more bows. Its colour was blue. A similar, yet lighter blue than the colour of the shirt she gave her Doctor.
Rose touched the fabric with something akin to anxiety, she had worn the dress for the fitting in the days previous, however this was the day its purpose became fulfilled.
With the utmost care, two maids took the dress and draped it over the elegant haircut, terrified of wrecking it and having to endure their mistresses wrath.
The bodice was secured on the back and the veil placed. The filmy lace was held by a wreath of myrtle leaves, decorated with white pearls and small daisies.
When presented to a mirror, Rose could do nothing but stare and bite her lip. She knew she had been labelled quite beautiful amongst her acquaintances. She had never sat down during a dance against her will and had felt many men stare at her. Nevertheless this was the first time she had ever felt herself to be worthy of the compliments. She smiled softly when her mind took her to the moment the Doctor would see her for the first time. She would now not be so nervous, knowing this was what he would lay his eyes on. There would be plenty of other things to fuzz about, but her outward appearance was no longer one of them.
Turning to her mother, Rose carefully hugged her and whispered: "Thank you, mum."
Blinking away tears, Mrs. Tyler hurries herself to get busy ordering the rest of the household about their business and Rose awaited the moment she could descend herself.
A knock on the door brought a happy interruption in that wait, and Rose was thrilled when Martha came in.
"Oh Rose-"
Martha dared not hug her friend, in fear of forming wrinkles and imperfections. She therefore grasped her hands firmly and smiled excitingly.
"This is the day! I cannot say we have been waiting for it long, but I am so happy it has arrived."
"I have not seen you these past days, have you been well?"
Martha assured her that was the case and a light blush spread over her cheeks.
Rose smiled, recognizing that blush all to well and pulling her friend beside her on the bed, she asked: "So, how are things progressing with our friend Mr. Smith? Please forgive me if I venture to boldly, but there will be very few moments left after now where we can talk in private. You will have to promise me to write. I will give you an address, and you will have to tell me everything, for I do not know how often I shall be able to return here."
"I will miss you terribly, and promise to write wholeheartedly, if you will return the favour."
"I do, I promise. Now tell me all."
"There is one thing that has to come first, for it is the reason I came here so early. It is a morning gift from the Doctor."
"A morning gift?" Rose clasped her hands in anticipation. "When did he give you this?"
"He did not give it to me. He gave it to Mi- to Mr. Smith yesterday and he entrusted it to me, to give it to you before the wedding."
Martha took a small parcel from her purse and handed it to Rose, whose trembling fingers had some difficulty unwrapping it. Her mind was enthralled about the Doctor's knowledge of old customs and she understood now fully his glee about the shirt. He had possibly been expecting one. However knowing her distaste for sewing, he must have had his doubts.
The wrapping was finally discarded and a small blue box was revealed.
"Open it," Martha beckoned, when Rose just sat and stared at the box. For it was no mere blue box. It was an exact replica of the TARDIS, made of a heavy material, with velvety coating and it had a clasp.
Slowly, eyes watery, she opened it and then laughed.
A joyous laugh; not fully understood by her friend, who now looked a little surprised at the small silver key, dangling on a long silvery chain of the most delicate links, interrupted by only the finest white pearls and little sapphires.
When Martha examined the chain more closely, she could not withhold the exclamation: "How remarkable, this must be worth a fortune!"
Rose merely smiled, until her friend inquired as to where the key was for, since the Doctor was not known to have a house.
"And to that I cannot possibly imagine any door that would open with so small a key. It must be from a box or something, do you know? Perhaps his household money?"
Rose laughed along with her friend, not answering and feeling quite relieved when a knock on the door informed the young ladies the moment was at hand for the procession to form and to begin their journey towards the church.
Quickly Rose secured the chain around her neck, the key slipping neatly between her breasts. The cool metal adding to her flustered anticipation.
Downstairs Rose was admired, helped carefully over a pile of broken dishes and then escorted by the young Mr. Jones and her little brother. Other children were cheerfully running back and forth with sticks and ribbons. Martha followed the bride, along with her sister and Miss Noble. Mrs. Tyler and some other relatives preceded the rest of the guests and Mr. Tyler ended the line.
Thus, led by a small band of musicians, the wedding procession set of to church.
With each step, Rose felt her heart beating more loudly as it seemed. The minutes each lasting an eternity, Rose feared they would not reach the church in time and wished fervently she could have used the TARDIS to proceed to the actual ceremony. She expected her feet to fail their steps and held on to the hands of the young men beside her as if her life depended on them.
At a small tug on her right side, she noticed her brothers grimace of pain and a little apologetic, she eased her grip on his hand.
"Sorry Tony, I am a little nervous, forgive me." Rose whispered at him and he grinned.
"Mum had said you would probably squeeze and told me to squeeze back, that would give you a momentarily distraction. But why are you nervous, the Doctor will be there, he said he would."
"You talked to him?"
"I saw him this morning. He came looking for your window, but I was not to tell anyone." He giggled about his secret and Rose smiled.
"So, pray tell, what did he say?"
To this, Antony answered slowly, his brow wrinkled in the utmost concentration to convey each word precisely as the Doctor had spoken.
"He said to assure you, should you be nervous, that he would, should it be necessary, travel to the ends of the worlds and back to be with you. I think he said worlds, though it must have been world."
Rose did not perceive those last words. Her troubled thoughts came to be a little more calm. The feeling of it all being a mere dream, dissipated enough to grant hope access for it all to be as real as the key she felt resting above her heart.