Campion was introduced to more people than she could hope to remember, had her hand kissed four score times and more, and even her lack of dancing skill did not matter for few people were sober enough to do it well. They danced old English dances; “Cherrily and Merrily,” “The Friar and the Nun,” and, as the afternoon turned into evening, it became more riotous as the men insisted on doing “Up Tails All” and Campion was forced into leading the ladies in “Petticoat Wag.” Caroline, who had come to Oxford for the wedding, shouted instructions at Campion, “Pull it higher! Higher!”

It rained briefly at dusk, enough to give cobbles and walls, archways and bushes, a sheen of reflected light from the torches that showed Toby and Campion home-ward. Toby’s closest friends were now their escort, friends who were rowdy, happy and expectant. This was the one part of the traditional wedding to which Campion did not look forward. She smiled at Toby in the doorway of Lord Tallis’s house. “Must we?”

“Of course! It’s always done!” He laughed.

It was for this moment that the dress was tied only with ribbons. The girls who had brought Campion home jostled her up the stairs, their hands reaching out to pluck the ribbons away. They half carried her and the men, who watched from the hall below, cheered as each pale blue ribbon was tossed over the banisters. Her right arm was naked first, then her left, and the men crowded up the stairs demanding more. The dress fell away from her as she was pushed into the bedroom, and they laid her on the bed and pulled at the petticoat laces.

The shouts of the men were close now as they pulled out the ribbons which held Toby’s breeches to his coat. Caroline tugged Campion’s petticoat off, leaving her naked, and Campion laughed as she struggled to get the heavy sheets and blankets over her body.

The laughter of the girls turned to shrieks as Toby was pushed through the door. He was quite naked, except for the glove on his maimed hand, and he grinned at the girls, bowed to them, as the men pushed him toward the bed. Caroline helped Campion hang on to the sheets as the men put Toby into bed with her. Sir Toby, safe with his bride, yelled at them, “You’ve done your duty! Go!”

Most decided to stay, settling themselves with bottles of wine and grinning at the naked couple beneath the sheets. This was hardly a Puritan wedding, but it was a traditional English wedding, and Campion blushed when the guests said they might leave if she kissed Toby. She kissed him.

“More! More!”

They left after twenty minutes, the laggards pursued by a naked, capering Toby who locked the door when they were alone and turned to grin at her. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

She smiled. “No.”

“And they’ll all be waiting for us downstairs. Listen.” He knelt on the boards and thumped the floor loud and rhythmically. A huge cheer sounded from below. He grinned at her. “What have you got on?”