about _his_ position, his wife and Mr. and Mrs.
Stoutenburgh were opposite to Mrs. Iredell. Reuben Taylor furthest back
of all, in the shadow of Ency's window. Her little cry was the only
sound as they came in, and that hardly louder than a sigh of delight.

Faith did not hear it nor look at anybody. Yet she did not look
dismayed at all nor abashed. A piece of very timid gravity the person
nearest her knew her to be; but hardly any person further off. A very
lovely mingling of shy dignity and humility was in her face and air as
she stood before Mr. Somers; those who saw it never forgot.

Except I must that same Mr. Somers! He saw only a pretty bride, whose
orange flowers and roses were very sweet. He had seen many pretty
brides before, and orange flowers were not new to him. And he
pronounced his part of the service which followed, with gratification,
certainly. Mr. Somers was always gracious, and to-day he was admiring;
but yet with no more sense of what he was about than when a hundred
times before he had pronounced it for--very different people!

However, there is a great system of compensations in this world; and on
this occasion there was in other members of the party so much sense of
what was doing, that it mattered little about Mr. Somers' want of it.
It mattered nothing to Faith, how his words were spoken; nobody that
heard them forgot how _hers_ were--the sweet clear sounds of every
syllable; only that once or twice she said "yes" where by established
formula she should have said the more dignified "I do." Perhaps "yes"
meant as much. Those who heard it thought it did.

For Mr. Linden, his senses not being troubled by shyness, just because
his own heart was so thoroughly in what he was about he did perceive
the want of heart in Mr. Somers. And, in the abstract, it did not suit
his notions that even a man who had married five hundred other people
should put such questions to Mignonette, or to him, in a commonplace
way. So far his senses perceived, but Mr. Somers could reach no
further. One touch of Faith's hand had banished the officiate to
another planet; and the vow to love, cherish, and honour, was taken,
word for word, deep in his own heart; the grave, deliberate accents of
assent seeming to dwell upon each specification. Yes, he took her "for
better for worse, in sickness or health, for richer for poorer," every
word was like the counting over of gold to him, it was all "richer."
Even the last words, the