CHAPTER ONE

Sweetheart,

I dreamt about you. I slept in somnambulism and saw your handsomeness and loved you. I woke from noctambulism and felt in my girlish bones the warmth of your caressed love. I saw the vision of your love to me. What a constriction of soul shall be mine to sell my love to another man to merit rather than you? I shall give my love for your love. If I give it to another man, I shall obtain false bliss. Your confrontation with me made it unfit for other relationships. I know you would not hurt me; the way women were badly treated and made to suffer horrible agonies from their wicked hubbies because men tend to notice things wrong about them. Don’t disrupt the love we had achieved, which allowed us to be so achingly honest with each other. Would you be captious? Shall we be this honest face-to-face? Could we be? I doubt it not!

You are the one who sought me in the middle of the night, between the chimes and shrieks of the nocturnal insects, between the hooting of the night owls. Your words of love melted my keen heart and sounded like the voice of the loved one from the empyrean. You’re getting so involved in my life all of a sudden since our affair began to move in a romantic direction. It had occurred to me that I might actually give myself away. I am not willing to ignore the yearnings that your words of love were awakening in me. I can’t have rest of mind until I live with you.

I did not lead you into pretense in which beautiful girls like me are known. I yielded to the allurement of your interest in me; you were so struck with my beauty, and you were so eagerly bent on gaining the ends of my love. One thing I like to express is: I have no other protector or any demi-guardian. No soul can sooth me from my girlish distresses; no person can protect me from my womanly catastrophe. You are my head and glory in these days of my youthful panic and in all the days of my youthful period. I have told my parents about your sovereign love and marriage proposal and they admitted your request…

So, wrote Vivian to Charles in her first epistle. Vivian was a student of Yankee University in Yale State. She studied English Language as a single honour. One day, she met Charles on campus while they both studied English Language in the same faculty. They met during the first academic session of the first year students’ registration into the university at the registrar’s office. Charles was in his final year while Vivian was in her first year. That bright morning, Charles had walked into the Registrar’s office to pay his first academic tuition fee. Vivian had already paid her tuition fee and was making her way out of the registrar’s office when Charles ponderously passed her. She turned to walk away from him, but he couldn’t imagine where she hoped to go.

There was a magnetic attraction of love that was triggered in her heart as she smiled and passed Charles. What he couldn’t stand however, was watching her walk away from him. He couldn’t follow her to the women’s lodge. It was prohibited for men to follow women to their lodges. She had certainly been a

little distance from Charles; yet Charles was inflamed by her attractive beauty and made a wolf whistle at her. She stopped as she heard the wolf whistle, and walked few instant steps towards him and stood akimbo just outside the registrar’s office.

She wore a tight flowered pink gown reaching below her knee level and which was able to showcase her contours. She was so fitted in the gown that she appeared elegantly like a beauty pageant. Her mother bought the gown for her during her last birthday. The first time she wore the gown to school, most of her friends took photos with her either to share in her beauty or to sew or buy a similar gown. Charles made his way out of the registrar’s office and met Vivian. He reached out and caught her arm. She whirled and glared at him. The breeze tossed her long black hair, dragging strands of it across her face. She brushed them aside impatiently.

“Please, I know I have interrupted your time turning you back from the distance, I wish to express my feelings to you. I only want to say that I love you at this first sight. That’s exactly what worried me. And I couldn’t be happy until I know your mind, constitution, profile and portfolio. Would you kindly tell me your name?” Charles started with a tremulous voice of a strange lover.

She was amazed with this love request. Ever since she entered the university, no one had ever talked to her at this point. His whispers of words of passion made her to feel impossibly close to him as if they were truly one flesh; not two separate people talking to each other in a demanding love affair. The feeling of finding a young man of oneness lifted her

euphoria higher than anything she had ever thought in life. This made her feel freer than a bird on the wing. And Charles’ thoughts were racing down the same path. He was feeling good as she felt their confrontation.

“Look,” began Vivian. “Love at sight crashes eventually, but I would not hide my name from you out of shame, least I could disown and mistake a love of a true stranger. Many men have longed for my love but I rejected them. My name is Vivian Harry” she answered as she sauntered around. A faint smile creased the corners of her eyes as he saw admission of his request in her words of answer, and he sure liked it. He did not take his eyes away from her. He wasn’t sure exactly what he expected by her response, but he was surprised when she appeared to speak his mind. She looked sharply at him with her blue eyes as bright as the bay on a clear warm day. She needed a young man of his kind to love; she found herself thinking. She knew that he was deeply in a grip of paroxysm of love. He was suffering from whom to love too, therefore she reciprocated his advances.

“I admire the way the sunshine of your smile lights up your beautiful face. No one has ever made me feel so welcome. I am in this little space of time enabled by the very point you have made to prove the deep regard to what you had said to me that love at sight ends quickly. You should certainly know that I can’t frame myself in your assumption. I am not entirely the kind of person you would suspect or the person to reject the vow of true love to a beautiful girl like you. I am not a philanderer. It is not all men can promise and fail”, Charles explained.

“Which State do you hail from?” Charles asked as Vivian blushed with smile. Charles was so inquisitive to ask because he needed to avoid finding himself hug-tied to a girl who had dishonesty in identity.

“I hail from Novo State,” she explained. She was not even reluctant to disclose her state of origin to Charles. She did not argue or hide her identity. In fact, she was feeling pretty happy with herself for being so lucky to converse with a handsome man for the first time on matters of love and matrimony, since she was admitted into her projected course in Yankee University. She knew that this would not be a wild-goose chase or chasing a shifting shadow, because she did not want any affair of temporal or any hypocritical promise. She did not want any useless connection or engagement in ephemeral relationship.

“Well,” began Charles. “I had once seen your angelic figure in English Department, but I was unable to express myself to you. Though there has not been any opportune time for this; so far as our meeting today has created a limited chance, I repeat, I would want you to understand that I had been longing for you and have submitted my love to you right now. I know that you will not fail to utter praises of it. Please would you accept me on the ground of my request?” Charles requested.

He glanced at Vivian and wondered what she would be thinking of the thoughts of love gesture that were dancing across his brain. He knew that denial, pretense and disappointment are women’s strongest ally during the years of his connections and communications with them.

“Thank you Charles”, began Vivian. “I would have a second thought about your love gesture to me. I would be no wise denying whatever love you wished me. I have loved no one and have promised nobody my love. I have had many suitors but I spurned every last one of them to the dismay of my parents. As you wish to express your mind-stuff, I would in no wise let it, your love wishes, to be thrown to the dust. Before I accept your present wishes, I will certainly let my parents know about your present demand, and you would spare me the time to consider their wishes and desires, because parents are very important on matters like this,” Vivian said emphatically.

Charles really understood that it would be good for her to seek the consent of her parents before giving response to his proposals but he urged her to be firm in her decision so as not to be influenced by her parents’ notion.

“Love and marriage go hand-in-hand,” Vivian continued."Where there is no love, there will be no matrimony. Love and marriage are like husband and wife. If love fails, marriage fails too. If my parents accept your proposal, they too would acknowledge your marriage with me. But if they decline, I would at the same time reject your marriage proposal because no reasonable person would disobey his or her parents’ wishes on matters of this kind.”

“Vivian,” began Charles. “You are the kind of girl I long for. I don’t want those iron-ladies. My love and marriage is reserved for you; not for your parents. If there is any compromise or agreement on my present pursuit, it would be your private decision. In fact, private decision is more than

public acknowledgement. You should accept my courtship that would lead to our marriage and wholly count my love your joy forever. I would only espouse you if you would accept the offer; but one thing you should comprehend is that: I would not marry your parents but you. Parents do not marry their daughter. It is a taboo.”

Vivian was momentarily silent and mulled over what he said. He would not be mistaken, when he said that parents do not marry their daughters and she contemplated within her. As she turned to look at him, his face appeared lovely in the bright glow of the morning sun. The conversation was making her so euphoric; yet she felt compelled to defend the wishes of her parents from Charles’ wanton demand. She quite knew that it would be unjustifiably inappropriate to disobey and marry without their consent.

“Look, Charles,” Vivian broke her silence. “So much as you have repeated the word ‘marriage’ in this conversation; it is ideal that I shall have a re-think of your offer. I am real impressed with your request. But one thing you will consider is that parents must be aware of the wishes and desires of their daughters as regards to their choice of a life partner. They ought to know the details of the marriage plans, and the most important part of this is the possibility to find out if the suitor has any questionable character. I can’t ignore them, and that is the impression that I am trying to let you understand.”

“Vivian,” called Charles. “You shouldn’t repose all your hope on your parents’ decision about my present proposal to you. Your vow with me marries you. They only need to offer

assistance and cordial advice towards your choice and should be interested to choose a suitable companion for you but not under the autocracy of some parents which would eventually yield a negative result. I implore you to believe my words just like a child. It is very important for your parents to know that you are ready to marry me, but we agree on one thing together; happiness shall be ours.”

“Charles,” Vivian began. “I have wandered in the world more than twenty years and remained a true virgin. It had never come to my mind to give myself out to the ironical demands of men. I always feel guilty about making friends with men. Most men are full of disappointments. They hardly do what they say. The promises they make to women in the night change in the daylight. I have not known any man and have never allowed any man’s love to affect my innocence. In as much as you have made your request to me, I shall not in any way barter your promises with anything or thwart your proposed engagement.

“I must impress it upon you to keep your virginity and retain your virtue. Do not live a promiscuous life or imitate those women that wander the streets looking for alternative nonsense. I mean those women, who left their homes and roam the streets looking for men to delude and snatch every hard earned penny they had,” Charles encouraged.

“Dear Charles, your words are true. Those nude women are notorious rough group. They are strippers and could do any unpleasant thing to get money. I had never been a stripper. I was born in an oriental family with sagacity, when the rigidness was peculiar among the modern women, when infidelity was a rare phenomenon. When womanhood was

respected, and amoral love had not been common, when husbands kept their vows and when women took great care of their erred and roaming daughters. The frequent of moral decay among men and women of this modern age has driven them to the point of insanity. It has caused most of the heartaches in the world and has also led to many broken wedlock.”

“Yes,” began Charles. “Those acts of the modern women have brought up unhappy marriages and represented the ills of men and women behaviours today. Amorous behaviours are the major causes of most marital unhappiness. Frankly, nearly half of the broken marriages come from amorous acts. Most people can no longer shrug their shoulders about these acts but almost every woman in the modern world has embraced them. Now, look Vivian, if pure love worth a name, I must say you are the one. A true virgin that marries her husband and lives with him, is a blessing to the man. If you marry me, I shall sponsor your four years degree programme in the university.”

“It is a fact that an immoral woman is the lowest thing that can be contemplated in society. She is nothing but a human garbage can, agent of pollution in the society, where dirt is disposed. She is made or molded for deception. She can bend so low than any creature in the world. I’m above these classes of women. So far it is your aim to love me and make marriage proposal to me and promise to bear the burden of my life and career, I owe my love to you and would keep my virginity. I always embarrass the men into going away from me, who exert every effort to paw me,” Vivian explained.

“This, I render and desire to render you every hour, to be your lover and hubby in any condition, if you would continue to stand your ground as a virgin and virtuous girl; with devotion and true love, I solemnly desire to receive you as my devout lover and sweet wife, who is the joy of my life.” Charles said in pampered voice.

“O Charlie,” began Vivian. “I shall render to you my love and endless happiness if you would maintain your promises to a poor girl like me. I desire to keep nothing to myself but freely sacrifice myself and all that I have to you but I shall never forget that men hardly fulfill the promises they make to women in the dark.”

“So much as you have decided to accept my marriage proposal and engagement; I shall be waiting for your parents’ decisions on this matter. I shall never disappoint you or tell you lie. I would not have two-face relationship with you. I will stand my ground of promise, because a true lover stands his ground in time of trouble and yields not to the crafty persuasions of the devil,” Charles assured.

“Charles, do not be a philanderer, but let the words you have spoken to me be written on the portals of your heart. My parents shall hear about your love gesture and would consider your efforts,” Vivian promised.

“I almost instinctively knew, as well as by what I have seen with my eyes, that parents are hard to be convinced when it comes to man loving their daughter, and it is quite difficult to elude their vigilance on assumption. They are very reluctant to accept any excuse and suppositions on hearing such things as a

man courting their daughter secretly. Anything covered with a basket is always open,” Charles instructed.

“Charles, don’t cast your fears on my parents’ conviction whether they would refuse when I present it to them or not. They won’t venture to act rashly. No parent would like their daughter to live with them forever, but would appreciate a good man to court their daughter,” said Vivian. While both lovers were in the dialogue, Vivian glanced at her watch and noticed that it was time for lecture.

“Time for lecture,” she announced as she rummaged in her hand bag to ensure that her lecture note was with her. Charles listened, enthralled to her nightingale voice and remained heat up about her probable acceptance or rejection to his proposal. He was anxious because he had in the past met a beautiful young lady who sounded so nice to him just to defraud him of oodles of money. He needed answer there and then than keeping his love and mind in abeyance. “Time for lecture?” He asked rhetorically wishing that the conversation would continue for the rest of the day. He stood up rather grudgingly and went closer to embrace her in order to say good bye. Before he could embrace her, she stepped aside, leaving only her arm to be held by Charles. She really needed to defend her supposed virtue and innocence and would never allow Charles to see her falling so cheap to him. She made some strides forward toward her department walking like a Hollywood actress.

The day’s studies were over. Vivian came back to her lodge on campus. On her arrival, she entered her apartment that noon and pondered over Charles’ amazing words. She became

very happy any time the memory of her conversation with him fitted into her mind. There was no way to get away from his words of promises. She drew to him almost from the moment they met, sensing in him a kindred spirit. She was only too glad to oblige his entreaties. Nobody in her life has ever spoken to her in such lovely words. She speculated about his physique, she saw instantly that Charles was a young man of thirty years or less, six feet tall, lean and fair in completion, with a pointed nose that looks like an American. Though it had been her dream all her life to marry a young man, who would be her match, and who would care for her, and would create a good atmosphere of peace for her, and expose her in the society of noble people. She also wanted the man to be a graduate, and one who would always dance to the tune of her decisions.

She fantasized about his personality. It was interesting to speculate but she had never asked personal questions about his biography. She was not bothered this very moment to inquire into his biography. She considered him a son of a millionaire, which actually he was (a kind of person she had envisioned to espouse her). She knew intuitively that he must have been eating with silver spoon and walking in leather shoes. He must have had everything he needed in life; a man who would obviously care for her. He was the kind of husband she had dreamt years ago and told her friends and sisters that would one day come her way. Now, providence had confirmed her choice.

During her spinsterhood, she had discussed with most of her friends the kind of husband she would marry. She had envisioned and guessed her husband would not be one of those

local young men, who engage in one local job or the other, whom knives have tottered in their hands. She had controversially insisted that she would marry one of the men of affluence, or one of those first class men who work in Government offices, or in oil companies – whose salary scales were fabulous or at the topmost; just a man whose residential building would be furnished with government money. She envisioned that she would either marry a thick businessman, who rides in an airplane or a professor, a chancellor or governor of central bank.

All these years on campus, she was looking for a charming and attractive man in his thirties. She had sometimes said that she wanted a man strongly controlled in his actions, patient, extremely bright, well-liked by everyone who knows him. She had always imagined of a man who is most definitely not a beggar; who lacks anger and someone very atypical; who had not been nursing a rage all of his life. She desired someone devoid of immoral problems with what he does, leading an exemplary life; one who drives a brand-new car; a conservative person, who dresses conservatively too, probably in suits or slacks, shirt and tie… whom she would recognize at least enough to be trust worthy. She was quite happy that she had met a man on campus, who would marry her – whose definition of personal and parental financial account in both national and international banks could maintain all the panic of her life and sponsor even her future children.

She knew within herself that she was a poor church rat in terms of monetary definition. She had vowed in her life not to marry a poor person like herself with poor parental

background. “Poverty mustn’t be my portion,” she always say. She believed that if she married a poor man in her life, she would be an object of caricature among the girls of her class who married influential men, in either government services with high salary scale or influential businessmen, whose financial account amounted to millions. She never desired to marry a man who had to borrow a whole lot of money to pay for the increasing qualms of the household – if he had to borrow any at all. Her hubby would not borrow money from any Shylock – a typical name for miserable money lender. She had always added that she would not marry a lazy-go-about who would become a parasite on her salary after her graduation.

One uncanny reality remained that she did not know or affirm whether the marriage proposal which Charles made to her would materialize. She would accept him if he had really meant his word and she was beginning to feel seriously aroused, beginning to wonder if he would carry the marriage proposal all the way. She further wondered if Charles was teasing her because men always tease girls into erotic nonsense. She did remember too well how one young man, a ruffian had talked to her father to allow him marry her and how the young man claimed to be a son of a multi-millionaire. She also remembered how her parents investigated the young man’s claims, and learnt it was a lie. She remembered how she denied his courtship for the fact that the man was not a graduate; just a renegade who worked in the motor park.

She could remember how one of her eminent girlfriends, Jane John married a motor park man; a local

labourer who lied to her and deceived her parents. He simulated his identity by telling her parents that he was a thick business guy living and trading in overseas. He lied that his trips ranged from Toronto to America and London to Brazil. She remembered how this guy put Jane in a family way before their marriage was solemnized; and how Jane was so much ashamed of herself to appear before the people during her wedding ceremony. She remembered how this renegade discarded Jane as a kitchen rag, had pleasure with striptease in hotels and theaters with little amount of money he made out of the motor park.

The best part of loving and marrying Vivian, Charles thought later was that he was aware he knew her far better than he had thought before he discovered she was interested to marry him. “Now she was simply an attractive woman”, he told himself. He felt he had found someone with whom he had to share intense emotional intimacy through their marital bliss. She was a girl he found in the entire English Language department to marry.

Since she did not lie to him and loved him with all her heart; he was totally down on marriage. He wants to please his parents who were urging him to marry, and did not think he was mistaken to find Vivian as a wife. Every relationship he ever had with a woman before he found her had ended with dissatisfaction. Of course, a lot of that had to do with his taste in selection, and the way he could not be relied upon to show up as promised. When he met Vivian it was so different.

Vivian meditated on how to approach her parents on the account of Charles’ request. She reasoned that she must first

approach her mother to probe her decision before the matter would reach her father, who ought to know everything she was doing. She had to do it this way because of the fear she had for her father. She believed that it was wise for her parents to know about her emotional escapade. She knew that her parents, especially her father had a unique way of looking at things so she had to confront him mildly to get his attention on this high-handed-plan of marriage between her and Charles.