Aphrodite and the Duke

by J.J. McAvoy

Plato said love was a grave mental disease, and I feared returning to London would make me realize I was still quite ill.

“In his mind, it is the thousandth time, for that is the nature of loving someone. They conquer your every thought, so while you may have met only once or twice, to him, it feels like many times before.”

“I stand before you, Aphrodite, full of everything, from nerves to hopes, to the greatest of happiness, and most of all, the deepest of love. I have long loved you to a degree and passion that nearly drives me mad. The sight of you is like the sun, and the last four years without you left me in a dark abyss. I thought I would never escape it, and then you rose again in my life. And now I know that as birds need the sky and fish the water, I need you.

“I thank God for allowing me such a sight,” I whispered into her ear. “I swear I shall worship you for the rest of my life.”

All cannot be spilled in a day, but is that bad, since marriage is for a lifetime?”

“It is not just you any longer. It is us. Your glory is my glory. Your harm is my harm. If you are in a fight, I am in a fight. There is no way to spare me from it.”