A new wife in a state that doesn't bespeak peace? (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
war bride
'a new wife in a state that doesn't bespeak peace?' is the definition.
(woman married to a soldier during wartime)
'a new wife' is the wordplay.
'a new' becomes 'war' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'wife' becomes 'bride' (I have seen 'Wife of groom ' mean 'bride' so perhaps 'wife' could also mean 'bride').
'war'+'bride'='WAR-BRIDE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for war bride that I've seen is " one married after some hostility".)