“Wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife?”
The man Roger gave the dazed bridegroom a jog in the ribs.
“Say ‘I will,’” he whispered loudly.
“I will,” said the young man.
“Wilt thou,” the Doctor turned to me, “have this man to thy wedded husband?”
Roger nodded to me. “Say ‘I will,’” he admonished me.
I obeyed; yet I knew not what I said, so frightened was I.
“Who giveth,” the Doctor went on, “this woman to be married to this man?”
The dirty, battered rogue, the clerk, took my hand and laid it in that of the Doctor. I was given away by the villain Roger. Then the service went on.
“With this ring”—the man’s hand was holding mine, and it was dry and hot; his face was red and his eyes were staring—“with this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee worship; with all my worldly goods I thee endow.”