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Through no fault of their own, the newly wedded Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hopkins could not consummate their marriage on their wedding night.
The wedding itself was beautiful, held in the parlor of Mansion House and officiated by Reverend Mitchell, an Army chaplain who was staying there to recuperate after a shrapnel wound in the leg (because of course, Henry could not very well perform his own wedding ceremony). The bride was clad in simple but elegant cornflower blue and wore delicate lace gloves borrowed from Mary, with a handkerchief slipped into her pocket from a surprisingly tearful Anne Hastings ("It won't hurt you to have two somethings borrowed, and I've carried it for years, so it can count as something old as well") and both women stood up behind her when the vows were spoken. On the groom's side were a proud Doctor Foster and a mildly bemused Doctor Hale (who kept pretending that he wasn't actually that interested in the proceedings) The ceremony was simple but beautiful in the velvety twilight of a Virginia December, there were as much food and drink as could be spared for after, but when it came time for the bride and groom to retire (a small honeymoon was planned for the following day) they were suddenly hit by an unexpected influx of wounded. Nurse Green--now, fondly, Nurse Hopkins--wasted no time changing her clothes and donning her apron and jumping into the fray.
The newlyweds scarcely saw each other the rest of the night. When those who could be treated had been, dawn was approaching, and Emma was so tired she could scarcely keep her eyes open. Her new husband carried her over the threshold of their now-shared bedroom, but more because he was concerned that she might fall asleep right where she stood otherwise.
"It's certainly not the wedding night I had expected," Emma murmured as Henry gently laid her down on the bed. "Emma, since I've known you, very few things have gone as expected," he replied as he shed his vest and began to undo the buttons at his cuffs. "Stay there. I'm going to bring you your nightdress--Mary brought it up for us--and I'm going to get you out of that bloodied dress and I'm going to hold you, and that shall be our wedding night, and we shall try again tomorrow." He kissed her brow, the tip of her nose, and her lips.
"Let me take care of you, Mrs. Hopkins, tonight and every night after."