To explain, when we graduated high school and went away to college, there was no question about our living arrangements. We would live together. Period.
Our parents weren't too thrilled about that arrangement, so to pacify them, we agreed to get married. Two weeks before the end of high school, Carolyn knelt before me one night at her parents' home and formally asked me to marry her. "Do the honor of becoming my wife," as she put it, then slipped a huge diamond onto my third finger left hand.
I was stunned.
I had always supposed that I would do the asking when the time came.
See what I mean about a reversal of fortune?
Oh, well, maybe you don't...
What else could I do?
I simpered prettily and replied softly, "Yes, Carolyn, I will be your wife.'"