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Page 346
they became her excellently well. Joanna looked at the beautifully set necklace, armlets, and bands to hold the wimple, and a faint smile touched her lips. Her jewels would not be duplicated by anyone. Here must be every moonstone in England, and perhaps in all Europe.
The king could not attend the wedding because he was excommunicate, and his presence would have invalidated the ceremony. Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, performed it, and it was fortunate that he was a strong man with a good voice. No frail prelate could have bellowed the service loud enough to be heard by the huge crowd of courtiers that pressed into the church porch, spilled down the steps, and flowed out over the square. God knows, Joanna thought, with a little flicker of her normal, easily roused sense of humor, this wedding, which may be repudiated tomorrow, is doubtless the best-witnessed marriage that has ever taken place.
Geoffrey caught the little smile and his heart leapt. Perhaps she is glad, he thought, or, at least, only doubtful. Perhaps her sadness has only been born of the filth we are drowned in and her fear of what will befall us all. Perhaps it is only a maid's unwillingness to change her state. No one could have a more indulgent father than Ian or a happier home than that provided by Lady Alinor. It cannot be easy to leave that, to trust herself to a stranger.
They were all shivering by the time the bishop finished the benediction and told Geoffrey to kiss his wife. He would have liked really to kiss her and see what response he would obtain, but he feared both Joanna's reaction and that of the watching crowd. Better to cling to his hope rather than put it to the proof here where it might become a standing jest against him in the future. Geoffrey barely touched Joanna's lips, and she accepted the kiss as placidly as he appeared to give it. The cold touch again sank poor Joanna's heart, which had been beating harder with hope when Geoffrey took her hand. She would not weep! She would not!
The resolution held even when her mother clutched her tight, whispering, "Child, child, you will always be my

 
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