“For me, it is,” Stephen said. “I have not been… light, lately.”
“Since when?” Oliver’s eyes flicked.
“You’re terrified,” Oliver said, not unkind. “Not of marrying but rather failing at it.”
Once again, he declined to respond.
“Round,” the boy called.
They touched gloves again, and Oliver came in hot. Stephen let him have the luxury of thinking that he had the upper hand for starters. It was always a better victory when one let their opponent think that they had a chance at first.
Besides, blocking and moving were easier than thinking. He found a rhythm, and Oliver talked anyway between exchanges.
“You think Alethea and I had it easy at the start?” He slipped a jab. “Ours was a tumultuous start, really. You at least like each other. I think that is quite promising.”
“Do we?” Stephen said. He circled, jabbed the chest to move Oliver’s feet, circled again.
“You seem to say good things about her,” Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “So, I can only deduce from that.”
“That is more than most manage,” Peter added in.
Stephen took a body shot and let it make him honest.
“I don’t want to marry.”
“Neither did I,” Oliver snorted. “But it worked out just well enough for me. I suspect you take the leap of faith as well.”
“It’s really only just a marriage,” Peter replied. “You need not take it so seriously. It is not as though your life will end once you say the words to her.”
Stephen wondered what to say in response. In earnest, it was true that it wasonlya marriage. Yet the circumstances in which he had been pulled into one were just not ones that he had ever expected for himself.
He did not even have the license to be angry at Maria, of course. This was not her fault.
But there were just too many unknowns still. He did not know what the future was going to hold.
“Another match,” he found himself saying abruptly. Anything to distract himself.
“Are you sure you need another match?” Oliver was grinning at him now. “Or do you rather need another drink instead?”
“Whichever is fine.”
He did not want to marry, nor did he wish to elaborate. Both of those things, he decided, he could defer to later.
Their wedding was not much to talk about. For Maria, it went by like a blur. The ceremony was beautiful, of course, but not a lot of people had been invited.
She had gone through the motions. It was not a good thing to overthink, she told herself. This was a new stage of her life, and as daunting as it was, she was going to have to show up for it.
Maria had also heard that brides often cry on their wedding day. But she had not shed a single tear. Was it because she was still coming to terms with how quickly everything had been decided? Or was it because she did not feel a strong attachment to her family home, which was a reason why some brides cried.
If anything, Maria should be feeling a sense of relief. For she had finally achieved her objective of getting married and no longer being a burden to her brother.
When the ceremony was over, Maria was placed in a carriage with her now-husband.
Husband.The word sent a shiver down her spine, and she knew that it was going to take a while for her to get used to it.
“You managed to look everywhere but at me,” Maria said at last. She could not help herself now. They had not exchanged many words during the wedding, and now she finally had a chance to speak to him.
“I looked precisely where I ought,” Stephen replied. “I do not think you should have any cause for complaints.”