The Marriage of Gunther and Cornelia

Prologue

Part 2

Wedded bliss suited Gunther and Cornelia Goth, and the two did not leave the honeymoon stage for many years. They enjoyed candleight dinners, bought each other unusual expensive gifts, and spent many a long night by the fireplace. They journeyed to Champs Les Sims, and Al Simhara on expensive vacations, but always donating some of their wealth to the locals before they left.

Gunther and Cornelia engage in a chess match in their exotic greenhouse.

Cornelia’s ethereal beauty was not lost on the other Sunset Valley men. Despite their extravagant attempts at wooing her away from Gunther, she found their attentions repulsive rather than flattering. Because of this, she preferred to spend the majority of her time home at the manor, gardening and refurbishing, while Gunther became quite the career-man.

Cornelia aimed for the perfect garden in her lifetime. She found peace, beauty and order amongst her flowerbeds, and tried to absorb those qualities as she tended to them.

Cornelia also found time to restore parts of the ancient manor to its original glory, meticulously matching wallpaper fragments with modern reproductions, and placing fixtures where they had originally been. She really could have become a museum curator with her skills! She really would rather it be her art showcased in a museum, though, as she fancied herself a talented painter. And she was.

Mortimer painting in Cornelia's "Art Attic" on the third floor of Goth Manor.

Gunther was impressed with his wife’s work on the Goth home. Her enthusiasm for the Goth history was more so than most blood relatives! It was Gunther, though, who fancied himself the Goth family historian, the keeper of the records both past and present. He had focused much of his time in his bachelorhood on research that he had neglected to keep the house tidy and in good working condition!

And so, in many ways, Gunther and Cornelia were an equal match. But in many ways, they were not at all suited. Gunther was so career-driven he lost sight of his supportive family at home. After many years of a good marriage, her had fallen into the line of thinking that he didn’t have to pay as much attention to his wife as he once has. A diamond necklace here, and a cashmere sweater there could solve any rift between them, he thought. Cornelia did not wear his frequent presents anymore. They were cold on her skin, and all she wanted was the once-familiar warmth of Gunther. She may not be an easy woman to live with, but she had dedicated her life and soul to Gunther, and he now failed to do the same.

But,  the best of both of their qualities were passed on to their only child, a young boy of ten, named Mortimer…