orical
velvet-jacket, which the summer had dealt with pretty severely, and
appeared in a magnificent dress-coat--the only trouble with which was
that it was rather too broad, inasmuch as it had been taken from
Rossel's wardrobe. But the most beautiful of all, in her simplicity,
appeared the mistress of these halls herself. She wore a white dress of
the finest woolen, which exposed but a little of her white shoulders
and her arms as far as the elbow. A plain gold chain, from which hung a
medallion containing a miniature of her mother, was wound several times
about her neck; her hair was brushed back smoothly, and intertwined
with a garland of myrtle; in her bosom was fastened a dark-red
pomegranate blossom.

In his first surprise Jansen started back from the threshold with a
look of bitter disappointment, which Julie alone understood. But,
before he had time to recover his presence of mind, he felt himself
seized by the gentlest hands, and disarmed by a single soft word
whispered in his ear.

"Here he comes at last," she said, leading the speechless man into the
centre of the room. "And first of all I must beg his pardon for not
having told him beforehand whom he would find here. For even though
they are only our best and dearest friends whom I have invited to our
farewell gathering--still, I know you would have preferred to see no
one this evening but myself. And yet, though I would gladly do anything
else for your sake--I could not do otherwise than what I have done on
this occasion. Our friends all know that I am determined to share my
life with you until death parts us. Do you not feel with me that it
would be contrary to my honor and my womanly pride, to pass
clandestinely into the new life that has been opened to us, as if we
had committed a sin, instead of entering upon it with open brow,
followed by the congratulations of our dearest friends, as other happy
bridal couples do?"

She stopped, for a moment, overcome by her emotion. But, as he made no
movement, except to raise to his lips the hand with which she held his,
she recovered her courage, and continued in a lower voice:

"Our roles are so singularly transposed. It is customary for the voice
of the bride to be heard only when she says 'yes' at the foot of the
altar. But here there is no altar, and the bride must pronounce the
wedding address herself. I confess that, since I plighted my heart and
my troth to my beloved friend, I have always cherished the