"I Expect Obedience" The Duke Said at the Altar—She Turned to the Bishop and Said "I Do Not"

The Bishop had performed this ceremony four hundred and twelve times. He had never been interrupted. It was, in fairness, a very small interruption. Quiet. Composed. Delivered in the same tone one might use to decline a second helping at dinner — politely, clearly, without drama. The Duke had said four words to her at the altar. Four words, meant only for her, about what he expected from this marriage. She had considered them for approximately three seconds. Then she had turned to the Bishop. Three hundred guests did not breathe. The Duke had been obeyed by everyone in his life — his staff, his tenants, his colleagues in the House of Lords, his horses. He was not certain he had ever, in forty-one years, encountered a situation for which he had no prepared response. He was encountering one now.