I motioned for him to back off. Everybody knew the betrothal wouldn't be final until Avigail had received Reuben's gift.
James stared at Reuben sullenly.
Reuben produced the gift dutifully, opening the silken wrapping. It was a gold necklace, very delicate and very beautifully made. It shone with gems. I'd seldom seen such a thing. It might have come from Babylon or from Rome.
"Let me see if the girl is well and able to speak to you," said my mother. "My lord, drink your wine, and give me leave to talk to her. I'll be back as soon as I can."
There were muffled noises from the room next to us. Several of the women came in. Reuben rose and so did James. I was already standing.
Hananel looked up expectantly, the light very bright on his slightly scornful and bored face.
Avigail was brought in the door.
She was dressed in a simple bleached woolen tunic and robe, and her hair was beautifully combed.
The women urged her gently forward. Reuben stood before her.
He whispered her name. He held out the silk-wrapped gift with both hands as though it was something fragile that might shatter. "For you, my bride," he said. "If you will accept."
Avigail looked up at me. I nodded.
"Go on, you may accept it," said James.
Avigail received the present and opened the silk. She stared at the necklace. She was silent. She was dazed.
Her eyes locked on those of Reuben of Cana.
I looked down at the grandfather's face. He was transformed. The cold hard look of scorn was broken and dissolved. He stared up at Avigail and his grandson. He said nothing.
It was Reuben who spoke in a halting voice.
"My precious Avigail," he said. "I've traveled many a mile since I last saw you. I've seen many a wonder and studied in many a school, and wandered to many a place. But through it all, I carried in my heart one most cherished memory with me, and that was of you, Avigail, of you as you sang with the maidens on the road to Jerusalem. And in my dreams, I heard your voice."
They stared at one another. Avigail's face was smooth, and her eyes soft and large. Then Reuben flushed red and hastily reached for the necklace, slipping it out of the silk in her hands which fluttered to the ground. He opened the clasp and he gestured: Might he put it around her neck?
"Yes," said my mother.
And my mother took the necklace from him and she closed the clasp at the back of Avigail's neck.
I stepped up and put my hands on the shoulders of Reuben and Avigail.
"Speak to the young man, Avigail," I said softly. "Let him know what's in your heart."
Avigail's face softened and heated and her voice came low and full of emotion.
"I am happy, Reuben." Then her eyes melted. "I've suffered misfortune," she whispered.
"I know this. . . ."
"I haven't been wise!"
"Avigail," I whispered. "You are to be a bride now."
"My young one," Reuben said. "Who of us is wise in such adversity? What is youth and what is innocence, but treasures that we're soon to lose in the world's trials? That the Good Lord has preserved you for me through my years of foolish roaming, I can give only thanks."
The women surrounded them, hugging them and patting them, and then they drew Reuben back, and they took Avigail away, to the far end of the house and up the steps.
I looked at Hananel. He was staring at me fixedly. His eyes were cunning, but his look was chastened and faintly sad.