The Union

“…speak now or forever hold your peace,” the minister’s words died in the empty spaces of the church. Someone coughed. Someone cleared their throat.

Graham and Madeline stared across the space of their entwined hands and into the eyes of the other—almost-the-husband, almost-the-wife—with bated breath. You could hear a pin drop. They both knew there was a good chance that someone would, in fact, speak now and not hold their peace. They’d actually discussed what they would do when someone objected to their union at the minister’s behest, in front of their family and friends, in front of God. In the end,

they hadn’t really settled on an actual course of action, but it felt better now to have talked about it beforehand as they waited for the minister to continue. But he didn’t continue.

“What is the hold-up?” Graham nodded his head ever so slightly toward his bride and ushered the words from the side of his mouth so no one would hear. His eyes widened slightly as he said this indicating to Madeline that he was becoming exasperated.

Madeline continued to look into Graham’s eyes, willing herself to stay calm as her heart nearly beat itself out of her chest. She squeezed his hands lightly and rubbed her thumbs over the backs of the fingers she held, silently urging him to stay still and allow things to proceed as they

would. Madeline disliked nothing more than making a scene in public—about anything—even on her own wedding day. Even at her own wedding. She knew the wedding itself was spectacle enough in this small town steeped in tradition and deeply held beliefs that went back centuries for some of the families in attendance.

When she and Graham had announced their engagement, it had come as a surprise to most of the people in the area. The engagement was like lightning from the sky when a storm has moved far off—the silent flash followed by the delayed, long, ominous roll of cracking thunder in the distance. People began talking the way people do about things they don’t understand, and so, don’t approve of. It was a roiling, a presence of undercurrent that invaded their lives throughout the engagement. No one had brought it to them, but it was there nonetheless—sitting in the pews right now—the disapproval of their decision to become one.

As the silence continued, people began to shift uncomfortably on their wooden seats, unsure what to do. Madeline continued to stare into Graham’s eyes, and she could feel her expression setting itself on her face as if in stone.

‘I will not move. If I don’t move, everything will just go on as it is. It will all be normal. It will turn out all right,’ she thought to herself. She couldn’t read Graham’s expression exactly, but she knew from the slight contraction of his lips that he would soon say something to the minister should he not continue. This she felt she could not bear. She had tried so hard all these months to move silently and stolidly toward this very point—the point where the minister pronounced them Man and Wife and the town and everyone in it be damned. But this silence, this prolonged scrutiny, she thought might break the last of her iron will.

Graham watched the face of his bride transition from anxiety to restrained fear and into something resembling resolution. The fear in her face made him tighten the corners of his mouth and caused his lips to purse a bit. He didn’t like it when Madeline was upset. He knew her propensity for keeping the peace, her desire to maintain the status quo. And yet.

He and Madeline had known one another from a time since before either could remember. Their worlds had never not held the other, though when they were children, they were not friends, nor even acquaintances. This town, this place they’d grown up in together, though, held them within the same universe. He’d always felt it was a giant nest they’d both wandered around in without knowing one another until the day they were fledged at the same time. Now, he felt, was where they stood abreast, holding hands on the edge of the nest, before leaping out of it, one in the hand of the other. Together away.

Graham had been ready to leave this place and its antiquated ways and people and beliefs since he could remember, but once he’d come to know Madeline, he knew he would stay until she would leave with him. And if she never wanted to leave, well, he knew he would stay here with her. He felt the same resolution settle into himself as that he witnessed on the countenance of his soon-to-be-wife. They’d both understood and accepted there would be awkwardness that came along with their decision, perhaps even outright backlash. Real backlash hadn’t materialized, but Graham recognized the tense silence in the church now, brought on by the minister’s reluctance to finalize the ceremony, as the culmination of their fears. He realized the minister was waiting for something.

Graham turned his head toward the minister, standing slightly above them and the congregation, and he heard Madeline’s sharp intake of breath anticipating the outcome. She knew Graham wouldn’t stand for this waiting, this brazen invitation for the town to intervene and stop this marriage. She stood stock still, her hands locked in his, following the motion of his head only with her wide eyes. She prayed he would, at the very least, be quiet about it.

“What is the meaning of this?” Graham was not quiet about it. He spoke full-throated and proud, demanding the minister’s and congregants’ attention. “We are done waiting. No one has spoken. Finish the ceremony.”

The minister looked uncomfortable and shifted on his feet, refusing to meet Graham’s eyes. He continued looking across the assemblage, waiting for what, only he knew. Graham couldn’t fathom the man’s arrogance.

“I say, no one has spoken against us. Continue!” The demand reverberated through the church. Graham was quickly losing his patience with this farce of a minister, there not to represent God, but only the ignorant will of his parishioners.

Across the space of hands clasped, Madeline felt not the shrinking of her own heart in front of the strength of her Man, but the unfurling of the pride she felt when they walked arm in arm down the street together; the joining of that strength with her quietude and upright self-possession is what made them able to withstand the black cloud of suspicion and judgement that followed them around in the preceding weeks. Madeline began to smile.

“Yes, Minister, please proceed. We’ve waited long enough. I suspect everyone would like to move on,” she spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. The strain of the crowd to hear the spoken words was palpable.

The minister cleared his throat, swayed slightly, then began to speak. He declared that these two people would be joined before God in a holy union that would be unbreakable until death. He put forth the solemn vows to which both parties agreed and, thus, the ceremony was concluded.

Graham beamed at Madeline but made no move. It was Madeline who said first, “Dear, it’s time to go now.” Turning toward the crowd, she took the first step down from the altar. She knew no one could stop them now. Graham followed, holding her hand, and wondering at the newfound boldness of his now-Wife.

They strode down the aisle together in silence, no one clapping, no one yelling, no one doing much of anything at all. As they reached the double doors that led into the bright sunshine of their new lives, they heard a shuffling behind them.

Graham and Madeline turned to look and there was an old man standing in the aisle. His clothes were plain, but clean and well-kept. He stood slightly stooped, but with an air of pride and confidence, if not sadness. Madeline felt a thrill run up her spine.

Graham stared down the aisle at his father with surprise on his face. He couldn’t think of anything to say, for he had no earthly clue why his father had risen and was now standing in the middle of the aisle as their whole town looked on.

The father gazed upon the son, almost longingly, then said, “God bless you and keep you both.” He didn’t move or sit down, just continued to watch the couple.

Graham slowly nodded his head in his father’s direction. Madeline shifted her grasp of his hand, so that their fingers intertwined. As she did so, she felt their rings touch. They both turned, lightness in their hearts, and walked into the brightness of day.