A Royally Inconvenient Marriage

by Pippa Grant

it strikes me that the greatest indignity of love is that feeling it for another person does not obligate them to feel it back.

“Love—that is what we wish to be known for, is it not?” He looks around, and when he nods, I assume everyone is nodding with him. “So why is it so difficult for us to give love? What does it cost for us to give love? ‘Tis free to accept our neighbors as they are, is it not?”

“Ah, but what if you are not loved back?” he continues. “’Tis true, it is a risk we take in choosing to embrace the love that our country is known for, but my friend, not being loved back, when you are truly giving your love and not just the specter of it—that is not your failing. Have you ever known a man who loved too much? Have you ever accused another of giving too much? Of caring too much, or of wishing too much good upon another? No? I daresay I have not either. I’ve known men who cared too little. I’ve known men to be self-serving. Arrogant. Neglectful. But I’ve never known a man who would love too much, and I’ve never known a man who regrets offering his love.”

encompassing love as a practice, not love as a theory.”