Early in the month of June, the month of roses, the wedding of Paul and Lucie came off. The civil wedding occurred one day, but the great event was the religious ceremony on the next day. It took place in the garrison¹ chapel², which was beautifully decorated for the occasion. It was a very grand wedding, for the Bernards were great people, but it was likewise a very happy wedding. A great many persons wondered why a girl of Lucie Bernard’s beauty, fortune and position should marry a little sublieutenant of dragoons, but when they came to see and know the little sublieutenant, and how much liked and respected he was by everybody, it did not seem remarkable⁵ at all. Lucie’s most valued wedding present was a huge amethyst⁶ bracelet⁷, bought by the voluntary subscriptions⁸ of the men in Paul’s own troop out of their small pay. Lucie wore it at her wedding, her only other ornament⁹ being a modest pearl brooch which was Paul’s gift.  
[Pg 258]
 
It was a glorious June day when Lucie Bernard became Lucie Verney. The garrison chapel was packed, and Sergeant¹⁰ Duval commanded the guard of honor. Toni, who had helped to dress Paul for the great occasion, scampered¹¹ off, with Powder under his arm, to the church, where he met Denise and her aunt. He escorted them to seats of honor reserved for them, a compliment to Toni which materially improved his standing¹² with Mademoiselle Duval. The church was filled with music from the great organ, and outside the air was melodious¹³ with the song of birds and the rustling¹⁴ of leaves and the swaying of blossoms. Among the happiest faces in the church were those of Monsieur and Madame Verney, and also two persons that Toni had not seen for a long time, Captain and Madame Ravenel. Madame Ravenel was, for once, not in black, and her pale beauty was set off by a white gown. Her usually sad face wore a happy and tremulous smile. She felt herself the forgiven sinner and was not, as most sinners are, proud of her sins and contemptuous of their forgiveness. Lucie had demanded that Sophie and her husband be asked to the wedding and even to stay as guests at the Château Bernard. Madame Bernard, after having pro[Pg 259]tested, vowed¹⁵ and declared for six months that such should not be the case, promptly¹⁶ capitulated three weeks before the wedding. This meant the complete rehabilitation¹⁷ of Captain and Madame Ravenel and their return to that world from which their own desperate act had hurled¹⁸ them for a time. They had humbled¹⁹ themselves and had been punished, and had taken their punishment as proud and honorable souls do, acknowledging its justice and making no outcry. But now it was over, and forgiveness had been won for them by Lucie Bernard’s generous and determined²¹ little hand, which had never ceased to labor²² for them since she was ten years old.
 
While the church full of people was awaiting the entrance of the bride and bridegroom, Toni whispered to Denise that they would be married in the same church and that he expected to be as happy as Monsieur Paul, who was the happiest man he had ever seen. Paul’s countenance²⁴, when he stood before the altar with Lucie on his arm, fully³ sustained this. Many bridegrooms wear a hunted and dejected appearance, but not so Paul Verney, although he had been hunted and captured by the charming creature at his side. Lucie, for once, was subdued²⁵, but her pallor and the tears that trem[Pg 260]bled in her dark eyes did her as much honor as Paul’s happy countenance. She was asking herself all the time if she were really worthy²⁶ of a man like Paul. But she recovered all her composure when they turned and marched out of the church together and passed under the uplifted swords of the guard of honor, and she was quite smiling and self-possessed, looking about her with the laughing, playful, penetrating²⁷ glance peculiarly her own, and holding up her arm on which the big bracelet shone, to the delight of the honest hearts of the soldiers.
 
There was a large wedding breakfast at the Château Bernard, which was at its loveliest in June, with its broad, green terraces, its plashing fountains and the riot of color in its prim²⁸ flower beds. The guests sat at many little tables on the broad terrace, where the bride and groom²³ and the wedding party had a very gorgeous one in the middle, just by the fountain, which sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine. A little way off, in a grove²⁹ of elm trees, a table was set for the soldiers who had acted as the guard of honor at the wedding ceremony. Their wives and sweethearts were included, and here Toni was the great man, second only to Sergeant Duval, who was the ranking non-commis[Pg 261]sioned officer present. Toni was the bridegroom’s humble²⁰ friend and everybody knew the closeness of the tie which had existed between them since boyhood.
 
Toni made a speech which was a marvel³⁰ of elegance³¹ and correctness. It had been written for him by Paul Verney two weeks before, and he had spent the whole fortnight getting it by heart. But at the end Toni suddenly burst into an impromptu³² speech of his own.
 
“The lieutenant⁴,” he said, “is the best lieutenant, he is the best man, he is the best master, he is the best of everything—”
 
Here Toni, without the least expectation on his part, suddenly found the tears rolling down his cheeks. He laughed and could not imagine what he was crying for and then his fellows all applauded him vociferously³³, and Toni sat down and was not able to say another word. And then, when they were through with their breakfast, they saw the bride and groom approaching, Lucie holding up her dainty white skirts, her filmy veil floating about her and with nothing on her dark hair except her wedding veil and wreath. Paul carried his helmet with its horse-hair plume³⁴ in his hand, and the sun [Pg 262]shone on his happy sunburned face as he led Lucie to where their humble friends were making merry. Toni had hauled out, from under the table, a mysterious box filled with ice and with long-necked bottles, and champagne³⁵ was soon bubbling in every glass. The sergeant made a speech quite out of his own head, and much better than Toni’s, in which he assured Paul Verney of what he knew before—that his troop would die for him to a man. Paul returned thanks and declared that he was conscious of commanding the finest troop in the French army, and then Lucie said a few pretty words of thanks and held up her arm with the great bracelet on it and showed that she had worn no other ornament except that and the bridegroom’s gift. Then there were more cheers, more champagne, more of everything. It was a very happy wedding because it made many persons happy.
 
The very happiest person at the wedding, next to Paul and Lucie, was Madame Verney. That excellent woman was fully persuaded that by her efforts alone and single-handed, she had brought about this match between Paul and Lucie, which otherwise never would have taken place. The relatives and friends of the Bernards were very grand [Pg 263]people, indeed, but Paul had no reason to be ashamed of his family contingent³⁶.
 
When the guests were all gone and only the family remained, Toni requested Paul to let the party from Bienville, consisting of himself and the Duvals, speak to the Bienville persons present—the Verneys and the Ravenels,—and this Paul very gladly did. The Ravenels and the Verneys were very kind, as was their nature, to their humbler friends from their native town. Paul did Toni a very good service by proclaiming before all the Bienville people, in Sergeant Duval’s presence, that Toni was the best fellow alive and the sergeant was doing well to betroth³⁷ his daughter to such an excellent fellow. This was accepted by the Bienville people because on that glorious day everything went well. They could not but observe, however, that Toni was clean instead of being dirty, and Paul assured them that he had become as industrious³⁸ as he had before been idle.
 
When the carriage drove off, in the summer dusk, with the bride and groom starting on their wedding journey, Toni was the last person with wh............