Blessed be the Lord our God, who forbade us our betrothed and permitted us our wives!
The entire assembly cried out in a hundred-voiced choir:
Amen!
And this thunderous "Amen" echoed across the neighboring hills and melted away, just as her dreams of happiness melted. Happiness with him.
She turned and slowly trudged toward her tent.
The next day she was not found. She had vanished. Perhaps she left, warning no one.
