re: "The stake through the heart ........"
Not shallow. Just a different perspective. Obviously, he wasn't in love with her. Had he been, he would have been more receptive. It would have been stupid to marry just because she wanted to settle down and have kids. It has to be mutually desired. Marriages have little enough chance of surviving in today's world, let alone if it starts out because one person felt pressured and the other has dreams of white picket fences.
