They had first met in the park and it was there that they returned for the occasion.

“So. Here we are.”

“Yes.”

He coughed, scratched his head, adjusted his tie and took her by the hand. They walked to the bench and sat beneath the tree. An aeroplane went by overhead.

“I have a ring.”

He took a box from his pocket and opened it. Inside, a ring.

She nodded: “It’s a nice ring.”

“I thought as much.”

She put it on her finger.

His brow creased and he sucked on his lips. “I…that is to say…will you?”

“I will.”

He chuckled, relieved. “That’s nice.”

“Yes. I’m pleased too.”

A passerby tipped his hat to them: “Ah, young love! And a proposal, here in this dull little paved-over bit of scrub they call a park! How exquisite that the grasp of the soul is so powerful and extensive that it can break through the bonds of conformity, and even without words to describe them, the emotions of men and women flow on!”

His fiancee swooned; he caught her and held her tight.

The passerby smiled as he was arrested.