Melchizedek's Secret Engagement

After Melchizedek's first year at Harvard, he moved into the spacious Oxlie house on Mill Street, with its broad expanse of lush green lawn, bordered by the box hedge which survived, despite the New England winter cold. He had a room upstairs in the back, down a long hall from the front bedroom which belonged to Mildred. A middle room was Millicent's.

"I think we need to discuss some ground rules," Millicent said, the day that Mildred proposed this unusual arrangement. Mildred and Melchizadek sat facing Millicent at the round oak dining table, looking out at the autumn leaves as they fell gently from a venerable maple in the yard. Fall was in the air. The heady smells and still warm breezes made it a pleasure to walk the streets of Cambridge. All seemed well. From time to time, Mildred and Melchizedek shared an affectionate glance.

"It is understood by the three of us that no public knowledge of your arrangement will be shared beyond us. I mean the engagement part. Living here need not be a problem. Everybody takes in students."

"Of course, mother," Mildred said matter-of-factly. "We have a perfect arrangement which is simply different than most. In the ordinary world, I would not be engaged, but I know exactly what is right for me. And that's that."

"I wish I could have had a long engagement," Millicent said. "But then I wouldn't have had you. I would have woken up to reality soon enough to break it off. I got swept away, I suppose. The two of you are creeping slowly toward some consummation or other."

"What are the ground rules, Mother?" Mildred asked softly.

"Look," Millicent said, "I do not care what you do as long as."

"As long as we do not cross any forbidden thresholds, Mother?" Mildred followed. "We won't. We are happy with our love as it is right now. We have affection and we are best friends. That is more than many can say."

You may wonder why this conversation only has two voices. The answer is that Melchizedek generally said nothing unless directly addressed. But let it be added that Mildred essentially controlled everything in the Oxlie household. How could this be so? It had nothing to do with her manner, which was rarely domineering. Or with some anxious need to be in charge. No, it had its wellspring in her expectations. Somehow anything that took place did so because it had to. Mildred simply smiled as the world operated more or less as her oyster.

Millicent, on the other hand, had all she could do to live her own life, which involved virtual immersion in things outside the home, at Radcliffe and in the world beyond. For she continued to build her reputation as a prominent and controversial feminist, engaging in conspicuous militancy whenever the opportunity arose. She had no time for men although her own remarkable beauty could easily take the breath away from any observant male.

Melchizedek's Secret Engagement: