He was the most famous aristocrat in the town. He was polite, noble, handsome and most importantly- rich. He had this title, with lands and all, which he got from the king himself (when he was still young).

What wonder was it, if so, that every father in town wanted to marry his daughter to him?

There was this little girl, so very young, and in those days she was the prettiest in town. All the girls envied her, all the boys dreamt of her. Every morning she would go buying milk for her family, and every morning dozens of men would watch her from different spots in town. She was an only child (for with a daughter so beautiful, how could her parents bear the idea of having a baby less so?), but she didn’t complain. She had all she wanted from life, short of nothing but money. She even had this one love, and they would have gotten married, if it weren’t for her parents (with a daughter so beautiful, how could her parents bear the idea of letting her marry someone short of a noble?).

So they had a make-believe wedding, with make-believe rings and make-believe priests. Nothing was really important, apart from their love.

So they met in secrecy for most of her youth, she was really young in those days, not even 18 years old.

And the old aristocrat? He wanted her all to himself. He did not love her; not really. He could only see her outside shell of beauty.

With few sweet words together with many expensive gifts, he bought her parents’ heart, which was never really hers (for with a daughter so beautiful, why should her parents love her? She would get enough attention as it is!), with ease.

They got engaged (and she wept, and wept, and wept).

They spoke their vows to the ancient priest, and the golden ring shone as an inferno upon the finger of the weeping bride. She saw nothing of the ceremony, nothing but her love, sitting there, among the hundreds of the townsfolk.

The years had passed, and those days were long since gone. The noble wasn’t noble at all, not really. He was a drunk, he would beat, and he would cheat- all with a rich smile on his face.

And she? She always loved the same one she did back than, in those days. Even now, when she is no longer the prettiest in town. Even now, when she has grown old. And than, he died, the old aristocrat. And she? She spent whole days without his shouts, his beatings, his humiliations. She was almost happy, if only she could see her love one more time before dying…

She visited places, asked around, but when she finally found him, there was nothing left but one gravestone among hundreds of thousands of gravestones, all with a Star of David on top.

When she died, when the once prettiest girl in town died, when the woman who suffered for decades died, the new townsfolk buried her next to her husband.

They weren’t alive back than, in those days, and didn’t know her real husband was waiting for her among hundreds of thousands of gravestones.