So much for control. My eyes flew to her. Her face. Her eyes. Images swept past my inner eye that were far more dangerous than the ones I had to endure a moment ago. She and I, and we together with our…
Stop! There will never be an ‘our’! There will never be a ‘we’!
Except maybe as in We are extremely sorry to inform you that, due to budget cuts, your position has been terminated forthwith. We wish you the best of luck with your future career. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Because she was bad. Bad for my peace of mind. Bad for my composure. Bad for my control over my infernal extremities!
‘…to be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of His holy Name. Secondly, it was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication…’
Very bad for my control. Very bad indeed.
‘…that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry, and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ's body. Thirdly, it was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort…’
Comfort? Comfort? Ha! She had been nothing but a pain in my rear!
‘…that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity…’
Plus, I had to pay her for it!
‘…and adversity…’
And why, pray, was I thinking about marriage in combination with Miss Lillian Linton? The concepts were about as related as tin plates and elephant turds! What was I still doing here, anyway? My business was concluded. I should sneak out through the back door, get back to work, and-
‘…Into which holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined.’
-and my hand moved another inch or two closer to hers. Now our fingers were only fractions of an inch away from touching. My heart beat against my chest like that burglar I had trapped in my bank vault and left to suffocate. What a shame the peelers had gotten him out. My heart, for some reason, seemed just as determined to escape my chest as he had been to escape the vault, in spite of my indisputable rights of ownership. This was intolerable!
‘Therefore if any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forevermore be silent.’
Now here, finally, was something easy. Something I could do. Just stand here, be silent and don’t move. That I could do, right?
Incorrect.
My hand moved to close the last bit of distance. As tumultuous cheers exploded all around us, and a choir started singing, my fingers interlaced with hers. I didn’t need to speak. With silence, my hand said more than my lips ever could with words. For one moment, one blissful moment, it all made sense.
‘Wilt thou have this Woman to thy wedded Wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony?’ The priest enquired. ‘Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?’
‘I will!’ rang out a voice over all the cheers in the chapel - and instinctively, my hand squeezed hers.
Sartorial Rationing
An insect settled on my hand and started sucking blood. Without even glancing at it, I squashed the thing and flicked it away. Only one person here was allowed to suck blood in my book - and that was me, from people who owed me money. The other insects got the message and kept their distance.
Crack!
At the noise of breaking branches from behind me, I froze. A predator approaching?
‘Bloody hell!’ a lady’s voice behind me uttered a distinctly unladylike curse.
Ah. Not a predator. Just another pest.
You should never have brought her on this journey.
As if I’d had a choice. For a female, she could be quite persistent.
‘Bloody, stinking hell! And I mean that literally! How can it be this hot in here? I thought the desert was supposed to be hot!’
‘High humidity,’ I answered without turning or slowing down. She had wished to come on this trip. She would have to deal with it. ‘The higher the humidity, the hotter human senses perceive it to be,’