As infatuated as a silly little girl, she thought, and smiled forgiveness at her own image. Her eyes were sparkling, her cheeks pink. She looked a final time into her vanity mirror. A subtle fragrance rode the small breeze from the perfumed lace of the fan. She snapped open a lacy little fan and cooled her face with it. One less reserved friend had even giggled as she said, вЂњCompetence in one saddle sometimes bespeaks competence in another!вЂќ So, even though their courtship had been bereft of stolen kisses or whispered endearments, she dared to hope that their first night alone might break his reserve and reveal a concealed passion for her. Many a comment had been made about how handsome Hest was, and how well he danced and what a fine figure he cut when he went out riding. Others had smiled conspiratorially, whispered of envy for her handsome mate, and gifted her with perfumes and lotions and lacily beribboned nightdresses. Some of her married friends had warned her of the pain of surrendering her virginity. Today she would formalize the agreement before witnesses.ДЄnd afterward, when the business was done, they would celebrate as a newly wed couple.ДЄnticipation and dread roiled and fought in her. But at the last, he had recommended she accept them. The demands of HestвЂ™s family had been precise, and some had made her father scowl. All would witness the agreement between Hest and her. Today, in the TradersвЂ™ Concourse, before families and guests, the terms of the marriage contract would be spoken aloud before either one of them set a signature to the final document.

A marriage contract in Bingtown was to be as carefully scrutinized as any other contract. They had exchanged their list of proposed vows, negotiated changes, and discussed wording for several months now. She and her father had worked carefully on the promises she would make to Hest. Right now, she had to focus on getting through the ceremony. It was not time to think of her wedding night. With Hest.ДЄt the thought of him, her heart gave a small surge. She was ready to leave her fatherвЂ™s home, ready to begin something new. Not the bedstead that had once belonged to her great-aunt, not the worn curtains or the threadbare rug. Would she miss anything about her old home? She would not, she suddenly realized, miss her motherвЂ™s softly voiced comments and rebukes. I warned her to wear a hat and veil.вЂќ Her mother turned away from her as she muttered the words, but Alise knew that she intended them to be heard. IвЂ™m sure he would rather see them than have our guests see cracks in the powder layer on my face.вЂќ And as tight and heavy as this gown is, IвЂ™m already starting to perspire. вЂњThere is more flour on my face now than we used for the wedding cake. Just one more dusting,вЂќ her mother pleaded.ДЄlise shook her head.

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