Marriage Proposal

MY DARLING LOVE
Do not only believe... Know I Love You for I Do!
My true heart, my revelation,
Do not only believe... Know this is a genuine Celebration!
Do not only believe I am grateful for your Love eternally true,
Know my heart, mind, body and soul shall forever thank You.
Do not only believe I merely hold out my heart in my hand,
Know I offer my life and everything I have and am.
Do not only believe in true love from your man,
Know forever defending you, your devoted Knight I am.
Indeed longing to give you the earth and the sky,
Know for You I will live and even die.
Sweet Love, my Brightest Star and my Goddess you are!
Do not only believe great joy there always shall be,
Know I promise happiness to the utmost of my ability.
Embraced in velvety skies among stars we shall soar,
Convinced our love is forever more.
Do not only believe these are merely rings you see,
Or simple golden circles from me...
Know these are One Indestructible Loving Bond,
Honouring You and Us Forever and Beyond.
My heart and soul are now asking you respectfully,
To please receive this golden bond and marry me,
Accepting your William Willoughby Lindesay!
I solemnly promise to Honour and Faithfully always LOVE YOU,
For my heart, mind, body and soul insist I definitely WILL and DO!

Do say Yesssss to me, my Sweet Darling Love! 

In 1820, Willoughby is dressed in a very elegant wine red with black, gold embroidered dress uniform full of decorations and even the Garter, the highest decoration there is of Chivalry.  Knighted several times and more... down on one knee and quite a performance in front of everyone, Willoughby proposes marriage to a pale She who is ready to faint right in front of an elegant crowd in a ballroom. Long since, She has indeed proven something... to him:"People see, but they never observe..."

Now auctioning off an unused lovely, gold embroidered wedding/ball gown, Willoughby has already secretly bought  to give back to her.... donating the money... 15 000 Pounds. The lovely Lady is even donating her dowry to the needy...  Most of the many guests however, think what is sudddenly happening is some kind of surprise entertainment and a jolly presentation from a new play.... now shown a bit of during an elegant New Year's ball with a benevolent auction made to help war widows and orphans as not only the affluent Duke of Willowbee, Sir William holds up a gold Guinea insisting:

"Milady... you were right and won the bet! I should have known... it was always you... my Love. The auction... already over and done... a Mister Anonymous... "

"Oh, my God!  Willoughby! You're alive!" The shocked lady interrupts.

The auctioneer smiles holding up his hands:

"Ehem.. indeed, yes... His Grace, generous to a fault... Ehemmm... Tonight Mister Anonymous... I'm afraid, is none other than His Grace, the Duke of Willowbee!" The lady:

 " Oh, Willoughby! You...! You...  Ohhh... But.."

"Oh, yessss... Me! Not a ghost, Your Ladyship... and Yours Truly, I am afraid I now have all right to a waltz of your choice... with you... But first, please bear with me... "

Standing up, awfully tall Willoughby smiles a tad holding out a hand to steady the speachless Lady who has turned down more than a dozen suitors.... and again serious he goes on:"... The truth is I can never buy your love... I can only give you all of mine... "

He holds out his pocket watch that has a beautiful chain made of golden human hair... her hair... she gave him over 15 years ago... and more...

All decorum is suddenly lost...

"Ohhh... my God! Willoughby! Will! You're alive! Ohhh.... I... I... Your Grace... Willoughby! Oh, dear... my Darling! How can you ever forgive me?"

"Please forgive me and to hell with titles, my Love!"

"Oh, God! Ooooh... Will! Oh, dear!" 

Her knees buckle and He simply lifts the Lady up and kisses her right then and there in public and shocking... as She says smiling and crying at the same time: 

"Ohhh... Will! You are alive! Reading you had fallen  at Waterloo... but drawing you... I had a memorial made two years ago... Ohhh, dear... Your Grace! Ooooh... I... I always... Darling, at least 300 guests are staring at us..." Again her cold nose was in his warm neck and life was wonderful... and as simple as that.

"To hell with them! We are alive and I love you to idiocy! Say you´ll marry me! Say yessss, Sweetmeats!"

The other guests just stare at them, highly amused, gallant Willoughby is back and never boring... And after all it is New Years 1821... and Napoleon is "tucked away" and ill on St. Helens, but suddenly the high pitched voice of a fine lady is heard:

"You do indeed have a lot to learn, Sir Harold!" 

"Be quiet, woman! By George, quite a donation... a fortune!  15 thousand pounds! An Elite Royal Cavalier... and a Duke!  He really wants her!" Her husband growls, holding on to his fifth serving of brandy.

Not quiet at all and closing her fan with a loud smack, his wife again insists:

"It's him! I told you it is him, Sir Harold! St. Michael... Bah!"

"Oh, buggers... Clemmie...!"

"I dare say a solid focus of grief... In everlasting memory of a dear friend and Hero fallen at Waterloo, my foot! Now you know who put up and even paid for the lovely memorial everyone's been whispering about! Ahhh... such devstating grief! Over a man... Harold... And in case you wonder... it is a rare commodity called love... dear!"

No, " Forever and Beyond" is not a romance novel. Historical... at times... and with often funny, very human details, it is indeed a mystery, a critique of Humanity and infinitely more...showing people at their best and worst...With a highly debatable twist... What we do, don't do and do when we don't know what to do...

Born with a caul and rare, Willoughby is not immortal, but a man who lives and dies and quite a mystery... seeking real truth... instead of all the conveniant lies we have been told... he needs proof of what he discovers... having the strangest and often frightening 'visions' since he was very young... Now He is 30, She is 28 and thought by most more than well on her way to become a spinster... and even interested in hardly exsisting rights for women... specially married ones... for any married man and husband had not only right by law to use is wife's body whenever he pleased, he had every right to all her property and money and he could even beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb... if he did not kill her... which got him hanged... by law as well.

Does She say YES... or not? No, I'm not giving anything away. No.

I can however assure a She (who knew Willoughby so well She was certain he longed to have a 'flying contraption' so he could fly fast in the skies... and when so, She would come with him... even to the moon...) Well, She does indeed insist when the New Year is cheered in at midnight in 1821:

"I love You more than there are stars in the Heavens... For You... were always my Knight in Golden Armour and my Celestial Prince from the skies... And... I... see Paradise in your eyes..."

(There are more stars in the heavens than there are grains of sand on earth.)

Oh, yes.  How's that for romance galore???

But then again there is another lady... a young widow in Spain in 1813 who insists:

"Marry you? Never even think of proposing to me, Captain Willoughby... Ohhh... I do love you, Darling William... Goodbye, Sir!"

Utterly confused, he thinks she is his Sweet Beautiful Angel: 

"But... you... What is this, my Sweet Angel... Darling Daisybell? Are you saying goodbye...? What the devil is going on?"

"Angel...? No. I've made up my mind, William!"

"But..."

"It's a new beginning... A widow... I need a big, strong Brother... Not another husband, but I refuse to lose you...! Other women may come and go, but Sisters... Are forever! So there!"

"Brother and Sister after...We...You... I...? Holy mackerel and corset strings!"

Enough.

Copyright©2013 by Kari M. Knutsen