An Ill Fated Tale about Rosencrantz & Guildenstern

"It was time for him to get married." the new M'Lady said.

M'Lord agreed, and yet inwardly cringed yet again at the heat of the liver that must have led him to marry a woman younger than his son.
The banns were to be put up that morning and Guildenstern has yet to be told that he was shortly to be married.
To be honest, the elder man was hoping his son already knew about it. Her family had come to him, and he was too polite to inquire about the reasons for their interest. The marriage was mutually beneficial, but one had to look to find it. There were some light-hearted hints that the marriage might not just be financially appropriate, but personally as well.
He liked the idea that his son was capable of more than intellectual tricks and weaving dense and confusing verbal tapestries of philosophy. That maybe in those long times alone in his rooms, he was writing notes of love to give to a messager for his sweetheart. It would be quite natural for a family who discovers a hot love brewing to want to make it official before mistakes were made.
He couldn't say that he really believed that, so much as he wanted to believe it. Guildenstern was not noticably physically or mentally crippled by his early birth aside from being prone to illness in early childhood and confined to bed many of his early years. Yet, his son was odd, there was no denying it.
Guildenstern never did seem to fully recover from his early years of illness, and he still had the sallow complexion and sunken eyes of the chronically ill; most unfortunately it was mixed in with the mild plumpness of the well fed and sedentary.
He had the potential to be attractive. It is, however, those with the fairest who are hit hardest when life begins to swing the ugly stick. If the elder man were to be honest with himself, he would have to admit that his son looked like a fresh bloated corpse.
Guildenstern was waiting in the hall.
"My Lord," he bowed.
The elder gentleman sat, and motioned for his son to do the same. Guildenstern did sit, and, instead of looking at his father directly -- looked into the fire near them. His father was used to this and did not correct his rudeness.
"Son, I have made arrangements for your marriage." His child glanced up at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn't respond. "It will work out for the benefit of all involved."
Guildenstern turned more directly to face his father, cocking his head to the side, but still not looking at his face.
"Did you pick her for me, father?"
This could have been the beginning of the end, but M'Lord hid his reaction. He knew his son's nature well enough that acknowleging he didn't know the family or why the family chose to come to them would lead to further questions and possibly him attempting to stop the marriage until they were answered. Too much had been sunk into this marriage to allow him to back out.
"Yes." He lied. "She is quite beautiful and witty. She will be an excellent match for you. I know this is sudden but it is time for you to marry and she is perfect in all respects. Love will come in time. Beautiful women are easy to love and witty women make themselves easy to love."
Guildenstern stood and paced excitedly, turning to face his father and saying, "For you, I will use her beauty and wit as a match to light my heart. If it not find wick, then my heart be black and...without wax."
His father shook his head and sighed. The child was idealistic enough to have the potential to be a real cynic.
"I'm sorry, father" he finished, "I couldn't think of a good way to end that sentence."
"Do not wish an unwicked and unwaxed heart for my sake, son." His lie was already starting to weigh upon him. "Be content. If they are to come, happiness and love will come in their own time."

He made a mental note to make sure the bride and groom-to-be met as quickly as could be arranged.