“What I’m telling you this morning is what Leopold and Mrs. Atkins told me after I recovered. I still don’t remember this.
“At six o’clock, Leopold knocked on the door. Mrs. Atkins opened it immediately as she had been waiting impatiently on the other side, her heart beating quickly with excitement. She took Leopold into the kitchen as I was just pulling some biscuits out of the oven.
“‘Good evening, Jasmine, thank you for inviting me,’ he said.
“They said I smiled a faint smile.
“‘I’d like you two to eat out here,’ said Mrs. Atkins, pointing to the door that led to the small side porch. It had been fashioned as a cozy eating nook even though most of the time Mrs. Atkins and I just stayed in the kitchen and ate.
“‘Just go,’ said Miss Atkins. ‘I’ll serve the food.’
“Leopold reached out his arm to offer me his hand. I hesitated and then took it and followed him to the porch. We sat opposite each other at the simply set table in the cozy space.
“Mrs. Atkins didn’t want to be a busybody, but she was bursting with curiosity and couldn’t help peeping out onto the porch like she was some kind of spy. Then she went back to the kitchen and started to bring in the food.
“‘Will you allow me to serve you both?’
“Leopold said I appeared to nod my head but still looked shyly down toward the table. Biscuits next to the butter dish. String beans cooked southern style with small pieces of onion and small pieces of ham. Baked sweet potatoes. Roast chicken still on the bone. And of course, iced tea.
“After Mrs. Atkins put the food on the table, she put her hands behind her back and beamed. ‘Please enjoy and I won’t be far if you need me.’ Then she left us alone.
“Leopold told me, ‘Jasmine, I don’t say grace. May I serve you some chicken?’
“I looked down at the table and then nodded yes.
“As he cut some chicken and started to put it on my plate, I started to giggle. But I didn’t start to eat and didn’t pick up the silverware.
“‘May I serve you a bite?’ said Leopold, holding a fork of chicken close to my mouth as if he were going to feed me.
“But I shook my hand no, picked up the silverware, and started to eat. I cut a biscuit in two and put butter on each half. I put one on Leopold’s plate and he said thank you. He picked it up, took a bite, and immediately had an obvious look of food pleasure. We sat smiling at each other, and then quietly started eating.
“When we finished, I put my silverware down and put both hands by my side. Leopold told me he reached his hands across the table and asked, ‘May I?’
“I reached out my hands and grasped his. We sat silently a few minutes, holding hands, looking into each other’s eyes.
“After a few minutes Leopold said, ‘Jasmine, I have an idea.’ He released my hands and took a pen and a small notepad from his shirt pocket. He thought for a minute, then wrote something down and pushed the paper across the table for me to read. I picked it up and was puzzled. Then I understood it.
“Leopold said I had a look of joy on my face, and with both hands he clutched the paper to my chest. It was in Latin and said, ‘I am Cupid, and you are Psyche.’
“I reached out and asked for the pen. Leopold handed it to me. I had to consume a bit of mental energy before writing in Latin.
“‘You are Cupid and I am Psyche. And then?’
“Leopold took the pen and wrote, ‘Psyche, will you marry me, Cupid?’
“I literally fell out of my chair with surprise onto the floor. Leopold helped me up.
“I asked for the pen and wrote in Latin, ‘Can I first go ask Zeus for permission?’
“Now Leopold couldn’t contain his laughter and just made a motion with his hand. ‘Go!’
“I took the paper and went into the kitchen. Mrs. Atkins was already beaming, and I showed her the paper. She was perplexed and said, ‘Dear, is this Latin or Portuguese? I don’t understand either.’
“I clasped both of Mrs. Atkins’s hands. I had not spoken for thirteen years. Finally, I managed to say, ‘He, he, he wants…’
“‘Yes, dear, take your time. What are you trying to tell me?’
“‘Mrs. Atkins, Leopold wants to marry me. Can I have your permission?’
“Mrs. Atkins nearly fainted but she didn’t and ran onto the side porch and said to Leopold, ‘Of course you can marry her. I bequeath her to you!’
When Miss Jasmine reached this point of the story, she said, “Boys, I can’t believe you all are willing to sit and listen to my mushy story like a bunch of teenage girls. Can we eat lunch?”