Then he leaned across the altar and kissed her.

“Now,” he said, “the woman who enters my mother’s tent will be my wife, and from that moment it will no longer be known as Sarah’s tent, but as the tent of Rebekah. Now, dear girl, you’re filthy and you smell like a camel. Go in and clean yourself up and change clothes, and then come out of the tent of Rebekah to be presented to my household as my wife.”

“I thought . . .”

“Is something wrong?” asked Isaac.

“I just thought . . . that your father would have to give his permission first, or at least meet me.”

“My father gave permission when he sent Eliezer on his errand. And he will meet you, but not as a girl waiting to be married. He’ll meet you as my wife.”

Rebekah imagined how it might be, Isaac presenting her to his father and his father’s concubine . . . and realized something. “You are protecting me,” she said. “When I first meet Keturah, I’ll already outrank her.”

“My dear wife,” said Isaac, “you outranked her the day you were born. I married you here because who are we to delay what the Lord has ordained? All that kept us apart was distance, and when that was gone, there was no reason to delay.” He leaned down and kissed her again. His lips were gentle, too, and yet the kiss was firm, and his hands on her shoulders were strong yet not forceful.

“A boy will be waiting outside your tent,” said Isaac as he led her to Sarah’s tent. “When you’re ready for Deborah or any of your other handmaidens, you have only to speak loudly and he’ll go fetch whomever you want. He’ll make no mistakes. He’s a clever boy, and I asked him to know the names of all your servants within the first few moments they were here.”

“No one has ever . . . no one has ever watched over me so carefully,” she said. Though in a sense she had been carefully sheltered all her life, what she meant was that no one had watched out for her feelings or tried to anticipate what would make her more comfortable.

“Well, soon we’ll become completely used to each other and you’ll be watching out for me as much as I watch over you,” said Isaac. “Now go inside. My people are eager to meet you.”

Inside the tent, Rebekah took a few minutes to look at what was there. The furnishings were simple yet of the finest quality. If these were indeed Sarah’s rugs and Sarah’s bed, Sarah’s boxes and jars and table, then her taste was exquisite, that of a queen who had nothing to prove to anyone, and so made no gaudy display; but neither was she ashamed to own things of the highest quality.