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48.

I stood at the altar, smoothed the front of my Household Cavalry¹ uniform, watched Meg floating

towards me. I’d worked hard to choose the right music for her procession, and ultimately I’d

landed on Handel’s Eternal Source of Light Divine.

Now, as the soloist’s voice rang out above our heads, I thought I’d chosen well.

Indeed, as Meg came nearer and nearer, I was giving thanks for all my choices.

Amazing that I could even hear the music over the sound of my own heartbeat as Meg stepped

up, took my hand. The present dissolved, the past came rushing back. Our first tentative messages

on Instagram. Our first meeting at Soho House. Our first trip to Botswana. Our first excited

exchanges after my phone went into the river. Our first roast chicken. Our first flights back and

forth² across the Atlantic. The first time I told her: I love you. Hearing her say it back. Guy in

splints. Steve the grumpy swan. The brutal³ fight to keep her safe from the press. And now here we

were, the finishing line. The starting line.

For the last few months, not much had gone according to plan. But I reminded myself that

none of that was the plan. This was the plan. This. Love.

I shot a glance at Pa, who’d walked Meg down the last part of the aisle⁴. Not her father, but

special just the same, and she was moved. It didn’t make up for her father’s behavior, for how the

press had used him, but it very much helped.

Aunt Jane stood and gave a reading in honor of Mummy. Song of Solomon.

Meg and I chose it.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away…

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm;

For love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave…

Strong as death. Fierce as the grave. Yes, I thought. Yes.

I saw the archbishop extend the rings, his hands shaking. I’d forgotten, but he clearly hadn’t:

twelve cameras pointed⁵ at us, two billion people watching on TV, photographers in the rafters,

massive crowds outside roistering and cheering.

We exchanged the rings, Meg’s made from the same hunk of Welsh gold that had provided

Kate’s.

Granny had told me that this was nearly the last of it.

Last of the gold. That was how I felt about Meg.

The archbishop reached the official part, spoke⁶ the few words that made us The Duke and

Duchess of Sussex, titles bestowed⁷ by Granny, and he joined us until death parted us, though he’d

already done similar days earlier, in our garden, a small ceremony, just the two of us, Guy and

Pula the only witnesses. Unofficial, non-binding, except in our souls. We were grateful for every

person in and around St. George’s, and watching on TV, but our love began in private, and being

public had been mostly pain, so we wanted the first consecration⁸ of our love, the first vows⁹, to be

private as well. Magical as the formal ceremony was, we’d both come to feel slightly frightened

of…crowds.

Underscoring this feeling: The first thing we saw upon walking back up the aisle and out of the

church, other than a stream of smiling faces, were snipers. On the rooftops, amid the bunting,

behind the waterfalls of streamers. Police told me it was unusual, but necessary.

Due to the unprecedented¹⁰ number of threats they were picking up.

1 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

4 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

8 consecration   

n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式

参考例句：

• "What we did had a consecration of its own. “我们的所作所为其本身是一种神圣的贡献。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
• If you do add Consecration or healing, your mana drop down lower. 如果你用了奉献或者治疗，你的蓝将会慢慢下降。 来自互联网

9 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。