Time passed by since the couple reconciled, and sure enough the seasons began to move. As January set in, the temperatures dropped, and people began to seek warmth indoors or through hot drinks. Or both at once.

This was the case for Argyle and Goldie one day, as they stayed indoors from the cold. Although the city clock was just chiming four, the skies were very dark, and it could easily be mistaken for night time as the setting sun was hidden from view. This meant that the lights were turned up to full inside the cafe, where they were currently both enjoying hot drinks.

Truth be told, Goldie had noticed something unusual. Whilst Argyle being a bit eccentric was a key part of his personality (and one of the things that attracted her to him in the first place), this still seemed a little unusual. He seemed a tad nervous.

"Is everything OK?" Goldie asked. "You've been acting a little oddly up to this point."

"Sorry about that," Argyle replied. "Got something on me. Something for you, actually."

Goldie was momentarily silent. Could this be leading in the direction she suspected, or was this something else? She'd expressed an interest in learning more about his hobbies, and as such had borrowed some of his vast collection of railway books.

Argyle reached into his pocket and took out a small blue box, before opening it. Inside it sat a silver ring which seemed to shine like the moon. "Sorry that it's not diamond, but those were rather too dear for my budget."

As the box was placed down on the table, Goldie spoke up. "Is this an engagement ring?"

Argyle nodded. "I've been trying to build up the courage to ask this for a while, but... Goldie, will you marry me?"

It took Goldie approximately two seconds to decide. "Yes. Yes I will."

All the tension in the air dissipated in an instant, and Argyle looked incredibly relieved and elated. "Thank you."

"I have something for you as well," Goldie said, and produced a nearly identical box before opening it, revealing another ring inside. "I was actually planning on proposing to you, but you've kinda already done that."

"Well, go ahead!" Argyle said. "I see no reason why you can't."

So, Goldie did. "Argyle, will you marry me?"

"Of course."

It seemed some people in the cafe had overheard the conversation, and started applauding the new couple. After slipping the rings on, a very important question suddenly came to their minds.

"When should we set a date?"

Sure enough, planning soon got underway. Having set a date for some point in June (as securing a booking that far in advance would be fairly easy in January), the pair quickly brought their families in. As Argyle's student housing was rather too small for effective planning work, they soon got into the habit of meeting at Goldie's apartment to discuss plans and run things through.

And at an early meeting they ran into a slight snag. "It seems our families have rather different ideas about how the wedding should go," Argyle said, looking at the notes.

Goldie nodded. "Mine are insisting on a church wedding." She shook her head. "They seem to think I won't be married unless I've stood in a cold building in a puffy dress. Mother's offered her wedding dress, but I turned that one down."

"I presume due to height issues," Argyle replied.

"Yes. I'm taller than her so my feet would be visible. Not only that puffed sleeves do not suit me at all." Goldie shook her head to try and dismiss the memory. "What about your family?"

"We're very laid back on that front," Argyle admitted. "We'd probably go for a country estate or something like that- preferably something where not much moving around is required. June is usually very hot, after all!"

Goldie rubbed her forehead. "This will be quite the mess to unscramble."

Later that day, Argyle was at home when he suddenly got a phone call from further north. "Hello?"

"Evening!" said the voice of Curtis. "How's it going?"

"Had a bit of a planning snag," Argyle admitted. "Turns out our families have very different ideas for a wedding. Goldie's folks want something more traditional."

"Interesting," Curtis said. "Well, you gotta keep the inlaws happy. But I've got some good news that should brighten up your day."

"And what's that?" Argyle asked.

"Check your inbox. I'll want to go over the page with you."

Argyle opened the inbox, and sure enough found a link from his brother's email address. Clicking on it, he was taken to the website of a stately home.

"A fellow pilot at the Vintage Squadron mentioned this place. It's called Dyrham Park. It's not far from Bristol, and I think will suit both our famillies' needs."

Argyle scrolled through the page, and took note of the many features the building offered. "Interesting." He smiled as he saw another entry. "There's also a chapel on site that's licensed to do weddings, and the house can provide the afterparty, reception, and cover for people staying on site!" He smiled. "This is perfect. I'll send this on to Goldie and see what she thinks."

"I thought you'd like it," Curtis said. "Crazy to think how quickly things have changed, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're the youngest of us. You weren't exactly the most extroverted of guys; you always seem happiest with your nose in a book."

"Is this meant to be a compliment?"

"Yes. Yet here you are, the first of us to be getting married. I'd probably best be hurrying up on that front; I am 30, after all."

"No point in rushing into anything," Argyle said to him. "Now, how am I going to afford this?"

"Win the lottery?"

"I'll see if I can find some help." Argyle ended the call. "Hopefully Goldie's having more luck than me. Next time I'm over I'll ask to talk to her folks and see if they can help out."

Unfortunately for Goldie, things weren't quite going to plan.

As much as her mother was a kind and good person, she had a rather bad habit of taking over from other people and losing sight of what they wanted. The second she had heard Goldie was engaged, she had flown over (with Goldie's brother Moondust no less) to find a suitable dress.

This is where the losing sight problem came in. None of the dresses were what Goldie considered to be her style. Each of the ones proposed to her were utterly impractical things, with mountains of layers, enormous amounts of fabric, skirts that made Cinderella's gown look like a mini skirt in comparison, and utterly ridiculous sleeves.

"Well? What do you think?" her mother asked.

"I'm not sold on any of them," Goldie replied.

"Whyever not?" her mother said. "I can remember when I walked down the aisle. It was one not disimilar to this. And besides, you wore something similar to your school formal!"

"And hated every second of it," Goldie answered. "I'm not above dressing up nicely, it's just that massive sleeves and puffy skirts just don't cut it for me. I know you only want to help, but please remember who is getting married."

"Well, what are you looking for then?" Moondust asked, the first thing he had contributed to the conversation.

Goldie nodded. "I can think of three main guiding points for what I'm looking for. Firstly, the wedding will be in June, so therefore I need something that will keep me cool. Too many layers and I'll be doing my best impression of an old car."

"That's another thing we need to book," her mother said. "A vintage car to convey you to the chapel."

Goldie ignored her and continued. "Second, I need to be able to dance in it without falling over. If it's too fussy, I'll fall over, or somebody might tread on the fabric and damage it. Third, I'd rather not look like an iced cake, so corsets and hoopskirts are a firm no."

Moondust then chimed in. "I know somebody who designs clothing. They might be able to design something in line with your needs. It'll take a while to ship as they're based in Canada, but we've got four months until the wedding so that should work."

"I'll call them," Goldie said. "Hopefully this won't get too pricey."

"Money's no object!" her mother chimed in. "Only the best for you on your big day."

A month or two later, the dress arrived- along with the designer, who had come over to assist with fitting and any alterations that may be required. Sure enough, the results looked stunning.

"How do I look?" Goldie asked, looking in the mirror. She thought it looked good (and suited her needs well), but she always liked having a second opinion.

Her mother seemed especially happy with the results. "You'll look like a princess on your big day!" she beamed.

"Our big day," Goldie said.

Her mother looked confused. "Pardon?"

"Our big day," Goldie repeated. "Argyle's getting married too."

A few months passed, and the big day loomed. Argyle and Goldie were making their last visit to the site to ensure all was in order.

"My siblings are coming down by train to stay here the night before," Argyle said. "Sadly, some of my family stateside can't make it. Not to mention there's people we wouldn't want turning up here."

"I know the type you're referring to," Goldie said. "I know there's something of a stereotype for drunken conduct at weddings, but I'd rather a punchup didn't break out on the dance floor."

"Same here," Argyle said, as he looked in a book. "I've found something interesting, though."

"Namely?" Goldie asked, walking over to look.

Argyle put his finger to one entry. "That's my great uncle."

"Mark Starshine?" Goldie read. "During WW2, no less."

"There was a signal station here during the war," Argyle explained. "He must have been working from it. Funny how you find connections around the world. Not only that, I did a bit of digging and discovered a Skylight connection here too."

"I know we emigrated to America some point in the 18th Century, but that's about what I've found. I know more about our American past."

"That's reasonable," Argyle said. "After all, you did live there most of your life. But what I did find was that they used to own land around here in the Seventeenth Century."

"I'm guessing they lost it," Goldie said.

"Yep," Argyle said. "Turns out they backed the wrong horse and sided with the King during the Civil War. After King Charles was executed their land was given to somebody called Moonbow. That may explain why they left later on to rebuild in another land."

He noticed Goldie looking at one entry. "Something caught your eye?" he said.

"Yes, actually," Goldie said. "This person here. John Starscout. Starscout's my middle name. Or rather is my current middle name."

"Goldie, you don't have to take my name if you don't want to," Argyle said. "It's tradition, nothing else."

Goldie turned to him. "I want to, though. It'll be an honour to be Mrs Starshine."

Seeing the sun setting outside, the couple decided to take a walk through the gardens. Argyle was most intruigued by what he had just learned. "So, who were the Starscouts?"

"They're my mother's line," Goldie said. "At least, that was my mother's maiden name. They decided to give it to me as a middle name to preserve it, I guess. Of course, given I plan to rearrange my names, I'll probably be dropping it."

"I'll record it, though," Argyle said.

"Why, may I ask?"

"If we have children we could use it as a middle name for one of them."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's focus on the wedding and getting our lives in order."

Argyle nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Author's Note

The silver engagement ring is made from what is known as moon silver. This is silver that is unalloyed, which means it shines in a different manner (rather like moonlight).

There is something of a tradition in the UK of the daughter wearing their mother's wedding dress at their own wedding. This can be a bit problematic for numerous reasons, not least if the mother and daughter are different body shapes or heights. Some of the stuff here is loosely inspired by my cousin's experiences in trying to find a wedding dress she liked without breaking the bank (as some can be ridiculously expensive for something a person will only wear once).