Tiberius reached out as she approached and rested his hand on her arm, but for another moment he said nothing. He merely examined her at this closer distance. Her eyes looked particularly bright. Was that due to the dress she was wearing, or the expression she had, or something else entirely?

"Sometimes the woman you are hardly resembles the girl I married," he said. The words themselves could have been taken any number of ways, but his tone made it clear he intended it as a compliment. "I don't know when that happened," he admitted, then he reached out and pulled her towards him, intending to kiss her.