The whelp had actually worked up the nerve to propose! What now? She had no other prospects, none worth considering anyway. There was the old syphilis ridden drunk down the road and the shell shocked widower who had come home about 4 months earlier. All the other men were either away fighting the war or dead. The boy presented her with a dowry, livestock and a few coins that might tide them over until the war was over. She had few other options, now that she was a widow. So she swallowed her prided and consented. She had mouths to feed.