There is comfort to be found in ritual; Cordelia would in fact ascribe this rule to not only any military to be found in the whole of the galaxy, but as the basis for the Vor class system even as the Barrayarans embrace change.

Ekaterin plays the role of mourning daughter-in-law as well as she has played any part asked of her by society. Cordelia wonders if she looks half so natural in the receiving line even after four decades of marriage, clasping hand after hand and composing witty anecdotes only to realize she will never be able to recite them to Aral.