Wedding Day Service
47 year old Stewart, and his pretty 18 year old Filipina bride, Pearlita, stood in front of the female registrar, in the wedding room at the town hall. Their friends, and a few of Stewart’s family members, were also there to witness the marriage ceremony. It wasn’t a particularly large gathering, but then, both bride and groom had wanted a quiet, civil ceremony. They made a lovely couple, despite the age difference between them. Even though Stewart was a divorcee, and Pearlita, who was from a poor village in the Philippines, had obtained her visa solely on the basis of her impending marriage to Stewart, there was absolutely no suggestion that this was a marriage of convenience. Having said that, it was a mutually convenient arrangement: Stewart had a beautiful, virginal Filipina bride on his arm; and Pearlita had a wealthy, western husband who could not only look after her, but also send money back to her family in the Philippines. He had promised to do so even though he had never actu