But for her visit to the Astronaut we should have been almost
strangers; I could hardly have recognised even her voice. I must,
however, speak; and naturally my first sentence was a half-articulate
request that she would remove her veil.
"No," she whispered, rising, "_you_ must do that."
Taking off the glove of her left hand, she came up to me shyly and
slowly, and placed it in my right--a not unmeaning ceremony. Having
obeyed her instruction, my lips touched for the first time the brow of
my young wife. That she was more than shy and startled, was even
painfully agitated and frightened, became instantly apparent now that
her countenance was visible. What must be the state of Martial brides
in general, when the signature of the contract immediately places them
at the disposal of an utter stranger, it was beyond the power of my
imagination to conceive, if their feelings were at all to be measured
by Eveena's under conditions sufficiently trying, but certainly far
better than theirs. Nothing was so likely to quiet her as perfect
calmness on my side; and, though with a heart beating almost as fast
as her own, if with very different emotions, I led her gently back to
her place, and resting on a cushion just out of reach, began to talk
to her.
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