“You should be happy,” George told him, “You got the business deal and a woman in the same evening – if that is not a call for celebration, then I do not understand what is.”
“Yes and she is very beautiful,” Elizabeth added, “But I am sure I do need to tell you that.”
“But this is all too sudden for me!” Clement said in a sudden outburst, “If I knew that he was going to lure me in to marry his daughter, I would not have gone in the first place.”
“Ridiculous,” George replied, “You do not mean to tell me that you had planned on staying a bachelor for the remaining of your years. Marriage is a thing that was bound to happen to you and you should consider yourself lucky that it happened under such agreeable circumstances.”
“Dear, you should not be so uptight about this. Let us talk about the exciting things now! We must start preparing for the wedding at once,” Elizabeth bubbled.
“I am afraid I do not share your excitement, Elizabeth,” Clement replied back with a frown.
“Oh but you will,” she said slyly, “These men – they often do not know what they want.”
“My Lady, I was smitten by you the first time I met you,” George told her with a small wink, “and Clement, I am sure you will, too, be taken by your lady. You must get out of this morbid state and get excited! For your life has just been made so much simpler.”
Clement decided he had enough of this conversation.
“I shall call the help to make you both some tea. However, I must apologize that I cannot longer be in room together with the both of you; lest you begin to smother me with advice on being happy about the things I do not have any interest in. Farewell,” and with that, Clement had left the room.
-
Clement was nothing if not a practical man. He had spent a few sleepless nights with his bottle of scotch by his side to help him cope with his decision but at last, he had come to the conclusion that there was no other way than to accept the situation that he had been placed under. With the assistance of George and Elizabeth, he begrudgingly began to prepare for the ceremony.
The day finally came. Cornelia donned her white dress and her smile. She stared at herself in the mirror in front of her as mother made the finishing touches in styling her hair. She was donned in the traditional white dress of the bride but looking in the mirror, she could not recognize herself.
“You look beautiful,” Jacqueline remarked as she caught her staring at her own reflection.
“I am nervous,” Cornelia admitted, “I never thought that this day would come so soon!”
Jacqueline chuckled in response, “That is a perfectly normal reaction for a bride to have,” she said, “However; it should bring you some solace that your husband is quite the handsome fellow. Easy on the eyes!” Jacqueline teased and a blush crept up on Maria’s cheeks.
This was the first time that Clement was referred to as her husband but she reminded herself that that is exactly what he will be in less than a few hours. The thought made her stomach flip.
Cornelia checked herself in the mirror again and then sighed. “I think I am ready.”
John was most excited about the entire occasion – perhaps more excited than anyone else. He had come back to see Cornelia especially once before she walked down the aisle.
Now looking at her, he had the proudest expression on his face. He was beaming.
“My daughter looks so beautiful,” he said as he stood before her.
“Father!” Cornelia exclaimed as she went over to wrap her father into an embrace.
“I see in you a reflection of your mother from the day she got married to me,” he said wistfully, “and I must say, seeing her that day knocked me right out. Clement is a very lucky man!”
Cornelia gushed, “Father – I cannot believe this day has come so early. I will miss you so much,” she admitted sincerely.
“As will I,” replied John, “but it is now time that I give you away.”
She pouted back. “Promise me you will visit me as often as you can. Please!”
“My darling, it will be as though we were never separated but you will be very happy in your marriage, I can assure it.”
Cornelia decided she should take her father’s word for it. After all, he was seldom wrong. She was excited at the prospect of falling in love with Clement. Was this the beginning of her fairy tale?
Pleasantries were exchanged between the guests and Clement tried his best to hide his misery behind the smile that he had seemingly perfected these past few weeks. He wanted this to get over with as soon as possible.
The exchange of vows went over like a blur in Clements head – he vaguely remembered saying them and the smiling faces of his friends and family in his periphery vision as they clapped on. But strangely enough, he did not remember much of his now-wife.
But the institution of marriage is such that it affords a lot of private and free time in the company of their significant other and Clement soon found this to be true when he was thrust into a room with Cornelia for the first time alone together.
It was at this moment that Clement realized that he had never gotten a chance to have a proper conversation with the woman who he was now married to.
The first time the duo had an interaction as a now married couple took place in the living room of Clements’ house. The ceremony had just ended and the guests had left the couple alone for some privacy – and so really, this had been the first chance Cornelia had gotten to properly speak to Clement all throughout the period of knowing him and she did not intend on wasting it.
“Your Grace,” she said as she heard him enter the room, though now looking a little inebriated, “I have been waiting for you.”
Clement passed her a glance that said that told her perhaps he did not want to engage in any sort of conversation with her tonight and then there was another pause. “You should not have, Cornelia. It is quite late into the night and you should sleep now.”
Cornelia had inherited one thing from her father – it was her perseverance. She was persistent in her efforts to make this conversational exchange between them a successful one this time, “No, I quite disagree with you there. The night is only young. I was hoping we could have a chat instead!” she pushed on, now having gotten up from her place on the sofa and stood right in front of him.
Clement let out a groan, “Well then you should speak for your then because I have had a very long day and I must retire to my chambers immediately,” he brushed her off and began walking up the stairs.
But Cornelia had far from given up, “Very good!” she said, quickly following him in his trail on the stairs, “perhaps we can relax together and have a nice chat there. I like that idea far better,” she said, cheerfully walking besides him..
Clement paused his motion suddenly, “I am afraid that little plan of yours will not be possible,” he told her and confusion clouded her features.
“Are you implying you will fall asleep straight away without even acknowledging my presence, Your Grace?” Cornelia questioned back, riddled by her husband’s vague manner of speaking.
“No, I am telling you that we will not be sharing a room,” he said as if it as casual as commenting on the weather and then began his ascension up the stairs again, “I will have the maid show you your quarters, but for now, I must bid you adieu, it is very late and you should sleep as well.”
Clement had thought long about this decision. He knew that there was no way of avoiding the fact that the duo was married now but perhaps he could still manage to live his life the way he had been living it before. His solution was to separate their sleeping quarters, in hopes that it will minimize the time shared between the two. He knew it was a cruel thing to do but since he had been all but forced into the marriage, he had no considerations for his new wife.
Cornelia did not reply, she was too busy staring after him with her mouth hanging agape. “What do you mean, separate sleeping chambers? What a preposterous thing to suggest! After all, we a
re husband and wife.” She could not control her outburst.
“Preposterous you say?” he stopped to look at her with an amused expression on his face, “Oh – preposterous is rushed into marriage to a person you barely know. At least, my lady, you get to have comfortable night of sleep in your own chamber. I have forgotten what those have felt like in the last few weeks. Please – let the maid show you your quarters. I have had enough of this exchange – I will see you in the morning, goodnight.”
And with that, he had stomped away to his own room without even stopping to hear a single word from his new bride.
--
Most wedding ceremonies are preceded with a short lived period of pure marital bliss full of love and affection – however, for Clement and Cornelia, it was not the case.
Clement felt as though he had been rushed into the marriage and now there was no way out of it, as it was the only way to save his business. As a natural reaction, he lashed out against his bride and became a stoic and detached husband. He did not bother to converse with her or even attempt to get to know her. Instead, he pretended in his own head that he was still a man residing the bachelor life and ignored interaction with his wife every chance he got.
For Cornelia, it was a different scenario all together. She felt like a stranger in her own house – her husband was cold and refused to have a conversation with her that consisted of more than a few phrases. The love she had always dreamt of seemed to not even exist.
And even though, she had all the luxury money could afford, she did not feel fulfilled. In fact, she felt lonelier than she had ever felt in her life.
Still, Cornelia was a woman who did not believe in giving up easy. One afternoon she decided to win the affections of her husband by cooking him supper – she was certain that this would be the entry to his heart and perhaps he could see her for how much she cares about him.
She spent the entire day cooking up the feast and when Clement finally returned from work, she could barely keep in her excitement as she rushed to the door to greet him.
“Your Grace,” she exclaimed, “I have been awaiting your arrival most ardently.”
Clement raised an eyebrow in her direction, “My dear, I have told you many a times not to wait for me, in any capacity,” he said dismissively and then begun to walk towards the stairs.
“Wait!” she yelled at him, “I have made you supper and I was hoping you would appreciate that. Come, join me in having food together, your Grace.”
Clement sighed. He had noticed that Cornelia tried every now and then to strike up a conversation between the two of them but the fact of the matter was that Clement felt no desire to even utter a single word to her.
“I am not hungry. However, you may start without me and if you feel particularly lonely, you can ask one of the maids to join you,” he replied curtly.
But just before he could leave, Cornelia had her first outburst.
“I have had it with your behavior!” she exclaimed rather loudly, “Each day, I do something or the other to capture your heart thinking that it will bring us closer but each day you stomp away at my advances. I cannot take this humiliation anymore – you have degraded me to a level that I never thought I would experience in my marriage!”
“Woman, you must calm yourself. This shouting will not do any of us any good,” he warned her.
“I do not care what it will do. Clement, I see you do not want this marriage. Stop playing the victim! I did not ask for this marriage either – what is my fault in this entire ordeal?” she exclaimed back.
Clement was struck by her words – this was the first time that he had seen her so upset and the first time that he was seeing things from her perspective. She was right – she had not asked for the marriage either. But that was not enough.
“You may have not asked for it but it was your father who brought this upon the both of us,” Clement argued, “before you blame me for my cold behavior, just remember that this is not my doing – your father is the one responsible.”
“Then why did you agree to it?” Cornelia was at her wits end at this point.
“I had no other choice,” Clement spit back, “And I am done with this conversation. You attend to your supper alone and leave me to my own devices. Goodbye!”
And with that, he had stomped off.
-
Chapter 4
Clements’ coldness eventually propelled Cornelia to detract from him the same way he had with her – she no longer made any elaborate efforts to try and bridge the gap between them. It had been a tough pill to swallow but eventually, Cornelia was beginning to make peace with the fact that perhaps this was all she would gain from the marriage.
It was a miserable setting but after that heated argument at supper, the two had dwindled down their animosity towards each other and decided to be polite to each other at best. The two shared more of a professional relationship, where they greeted one another when they saw each other but beyond that, there were no efforts to sustain communication.
Clement had come to terms with his marriage – he knew that since there was no way out of it, he would have to live with the arrangement. He still resented Cornelia, for something she did not even do but Clement did not see any rhyme or reason in his stubbornness to not make an effort with her.
However, it seemed that fate had other plans.
One morning Clement woke to a sweat – he gasped himself out of a slumber and felt chills runs down his arms. Along with the sweat, he felt an uncontrollable itch on his face. He traced his hands along the base of his face to find little red bumps all along the perimeter.
Clement let out a startling scream.
-
It was much later into the day now and a doctor had been called in on an emergency basis.
“Doctor, what is wrong with me?” he asked with a pleading edge to his voice.
The doctor gave him a long look, “It seems that all the symptoms that you are showing are matching one thing. The fever, the chills and the persistent red bumps – there could only be one explanation.”
Clement had caught on to the fact that indeed there was something wrong with him but he shut his eyes anyway, hoping that was not the case.
“What is it doctor?” Cornelia, who had been exiled to the other side of the room, asked rather impatiently. The color on her face had been drained out and she felt worried beyond all belief.
“I am afraid you have a case of small pox.”
Clement had heard of the disease before but he did know about it in much detail. The confused look on his face was enough for his doctor to start explaining further.
“Small pox is a form of contagious disease that manifests itself in the form of large bumps on your body,” he said and then immediately looked at Cornelia. “In fact, you are in trouble of getting it as well as you are in the vicinity.”
Cornelia let out a small gasp, “But does that mean that he is going to be alright?”
“He will eventually recover but first, we must find a way to make sure that you do not catch it. I must inoculate you at once so that you do not catch it from your husband,” he said and started to rummage through his bag.
But Cornelia was least bit concerned about her own well-being – she looked onto Clement with soft forgiving eyes and tried to reach out to him.
“He says you will eventually recover,” she told him.
The doctor extracted some medicine from his bag – “Here, I must treat both of you – Clement, you so that you do not worsen your condition further and Cornelia, I must make sure that you must be immune to the disease.”
The doctor injected Clement and Cornelia both with the medication.
“Now, I have specific instructions for your care period – you must quarantine yourself in this room and do not step a foot outside for it is dangerous for other people to get around you at this point,” he told him.
Clement gulped, “Doctor, how long is the recovery period?”
“It will take a c
ouple of weeks – you look like an otherwise healthy man so you might recuperate earlier however, I am repeating this again, you must not expose yourself to anyone outside as long as you are in this condition,” he warned.
Clement nodded but his mind was elsewhere. If he could not leave the room, how would be go about conducting his business? Things would come to a standstill and Clement could not stand the thought of that. A sense of worry engulfed him.
“I bid you farewell now,” the doctor said, “And Cornelia, you are safe from the disease now however I would still advise that you maintain distance when it is not necessary for him to be in your company.”
Cornelia nodded but her eyes were constantly trained to Clement. What has happened to him? That was the thought that continuously ran through his mind.
The doctor left soon after and the two of them were left alone in the room in an uncomfortable silence. Cornelia tried to rack her brain endlessly to find a way to comfort him but she was failing miserably.
“Please do not worry so much,” she told him, “This disease, I know it is horrible however, it is going to pass and you are going to be well soon enough.”
But Clement was not having any of it. In spite of his disease, he saw Cornelia as the same annoying person he had seen her as all these weeks. In fact, in the furthest part of his brain he was irrationally thinking about how this having happened to him was because of Cornelia as well.
“You may leave me alone now,” he told her curtly, “I do not wish to see you at this moment or frankly, at any given moments in the future. I am half certain that the reason this has befallen me has something to do with your presence in my life. Please, you may exit the room.”
Cornelia was hurt at his cruel accusations – how could he think that she was somehow responsible for his ill health? What had she done to him other than extend him support and love – to him, even when he was like a cold wall that did not reciprocate to any of her advances.
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