After the many courses of the wedding breakfast, Bel and Gustavo retired to their suite to rest before the grand ball later that evening.

Once the door was shut behind them, Gustavo took her in his arms.

‘At last,’ he murmured as he burrowed his face into her neck. ‘I’m free to kiss you. Come here.’ He pulled her head towards him and kissed her ferociously, like a starving man. His hands moved to touch the thin layer of lace covering her breasts and fondled them roughly.

‘Ouch,’ she gasped. ‘You’re hurting me.’

‘Forgive me, Bel,’ Gustavo said, releasing her and regaining his composure with visible effort. ‘But you must understand how long I’ve waited. No matter,’ he said with a wink. ‘Only a few hours more until I can finally hold you naked in my arms. Can I get you a drink?’ he asked as he turned away from her and Bel shuddered involuntarily.

She watched as Gustavo went to the decanter on the side table and poured himself a large measure of brandy.

‘No thank you.’

‘Perhaps that’s wise. I wouldn’t want your senses dulled for tonight.’ He grinned at her and raised his glass. ‘To my wife, my beautiful wife,’ he added as he drained the brandy in one gulp.

Bel had noticed on the few times she had accompanied Gustavo to social events that he seemed to enjoy alcohol. On occasion, she had thought him a little drunk by the time the evening was finished.

‘And I must tell you that I’ve bought you a very special wedding gift,’ he continued. ‘Sadly, it hasn’t arrived yet, but it is due to be here by the time we return from our honeymoon. So,’ he asked her, ‘would you like me to help you out of that gown so you can take a rest?’

Bel glanced longingly at the enormous double bed in the suite. Her feet, stuck as they were in a pair of high-heeled satin shoes – which had meant that with her tiara and hair piled up on her head she had stood three inches taller than her bridegroom at the altar – were hurting her. Not to mention the uncomfortable corset, which she’d been tightly strapped into this morning by Loen, underneath the lace. But the thought of Gustavo releasing her from it with his pale, thin fingers was not an appealing option.

‘I’m going to the bathroom,’ she announced, blushing with embarrassment.

Gustavo nodded, having just poured himself another brandy.

Bel walked into the opulent mirrored room and sat down gratefully in a chair. She closed her eyes, and pondered on the ridiculousness of the fact that a ring on her finger and a few short sentences could change her life so profoundly.

The contrast between her unmarried feminine self, whose virtue must be protected at all costs from any predatory male, and the woman who now, only hours later, was supposed to enter a bedroom alone with a man and perform the most intimate acts, verged on the ridiculous. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror and sighed.