Stella realized afterwards that in action and in words there lay a tacit
acceptance of her as mistress which was to become the allegiance of a
lifelong service.

She stepped into the carriage with a feeling of warmth at her heart
which was very different from the icy constriction that had bound it
when she had arrived at the church a brief half-hour before with Tommy.

Her husband's arm was about her as they drove away. He pressed her to
his side. "Oh, Star of my heart, how superb you are!" he said. "I feel
as if I had married a queen. And you weren't even nervous."

She bent her head, not looking at him. "Poor Tommy was," she said.

He smiled tolerantly. "Tommy's such a youngster."

She smiled also. "Exactly one year younger than I am."

He drew her nearer, his eyes devouring her. "You, Stella!" he said. "You
are as ageless as the stars."

She laughed faintly, not yielding herself to the closer pressure though
not actually resisting it. "That is merely a form of telling me that I
am much older than I seem," she said. "And you are quite right. I am."

His arm compelled her. "You are you," he said. "And you are so divinely
young and beautiful that there is no measuring you by ordinary
standards. They all know it. That is why you weren't received into the
community with open arms. You are utterly above and beyond them all."