Page 99 of These Old Lies

Ned pulled out a few more papers, bless his organised, controlling soul. Charlie knew that Ned had agonised for weeks over an adaptation of theAnglican service.

As Ned passed Charlie the paper, he whispered, “We don’t have witnesses.”

Charlie squeezed his hand. “We witness for each other. You knowing I said these words are all I need.”

Ned visibly relaxed, and Charlie opened the papers.

Ned had picked a number of biblical passages and prayers for them to read. Charlie followed along, but his mind kept wandering, keen to jump ahead to the bit where they turned towards each other and spoke words to each other as much as to God.

The vows were the ones they had all heard before. Charlie turned toward Ned, staring into those swirling hazel eyes.

“In the name of God, I, Charles William Villiers, take you,

Edmund Stephen Pinsent of Heyworth, to be my husband.

“In the name of God, I, Edmund Stephen Pinsent of Heyworth, take you, Charles William Villiers, to be my husband.”

“. . . to have and to hold from this day forward . . .”

“. . . for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health . . .”

“. . . to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.”

“This is my solemn vow.”

“This is my solemn vow.”

Charlie tried to memorise every second of this moment. The sun streaming through the windows, catching the dust and making it sparkle. The draft lightly ruffling Ned’s hair, the tremble of his soft hand. The certainty of his gaze.

Husband. They were husbands.

Ned bit his lip. “I know we can’t have rings, but I wanted something.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two matching boxes. “They’re cufflinks.”

Charlie fell in love with Ned all over again. “That’s perfect.”

Ned turned back towards the altar. “Bless, O Lord, these to be a sign of the vows by which we have bound ourselves to each other. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.”

Ned gave Charlie one of the boxes. “These are mine for you to put on.” Carefully, but with steady hands, Charlie undid the cufflinks Ned was already wearing and slipped in the new ones. Ned had gone for plain and simple ones that Charlie could wear day to day without attracting attention.

As Charlie pushed the links through the holes in Ned’s cuffs, the words came to him without looking at what Ned had written. “Ned, I give you this as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honour you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Charlie’s voice almost broke at the end, and he saw that Ned’s eyes were misty. “Your turn, before we both lose it.”

Charlie found it more emotional than he could imagine watching Ned thread the shiny gold through his cuffs and repeated the same vow. Charlie knew he had a habit of clutching the scars on his wrists when he was anxious, a way of reminding himself he was alive. Now, when he looked at his wrists, all he would see was the glimmer of gold that represented Ned’s love.

“I love you,” Charlie said.

“I love you too.”

“Are we going to get through the Lord’s Prayer?”

“We can rush it; they always do at weddings.”

They began the prayer together. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”

Their voices faintly echoed against the chapel’s walls, entwined into one.

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