amma!" repeated Berthe, "Guillaume's thirsty. Come quick, he's
in a hurry."

Marianne and Charlotte laughed. True enough, the morrow's wedding had
made them forget their pets; and so they hastily returned to the house.

On the following day those happy nuptials were celebrated in
affectionate intimacy. There were but one-and-twenty at table under the
oak tree in the middle of the lawn, which, girt with elms and hornbeams,
seemed like a hall of verdure. The whole family was present: first
those of the farm, then Denis the bridegroom, next Ambroise and his wife
Andree, who had brought their little Leonce with them. And apart from
the family proper, there were only the few invited relatives, Beauchene
and Constance, Seguin and Valentine, with, of course, Madame Desvignes,
the bride's mother. There were twenty-one at table, as has been said;
but besides those one-and-twenty there were three very little ones
present: Leonce, who at fifteen months had just been weaned, and
Benjamin and Guillaume, who still took the breast. Their little
carriages had been drawn up near, so that they also belonged to the
party, which was thus a round two dozen. And the table, flowery with
roses, sent forth a delightful perfume under the rain of summer sunbeams
which flecked it with gold athwart the cool shady foliage. From one
horizon to the other stretched the wondrous tent of azure of the
triumphant July sky. And Marthe's white bridal gown, and the bright
dresses of the girls, big and little; all those gay frocks, and all that
fine youthful health, seemed like the very florescence of that green
nook of happiness. They lunched joyously, and ended by clinking glasses
in country fashion, while wishing all sorts of prosperity to the bridal
pair and to everybody present.

Then, while the servants were removing the cloth, Seguin, who affected
an interest in horse-breeding and cattle-raising, wished Mathieu to show
him his stables. He had talked nothing but horseflesh during the meal,
and was particularly desirous of seeing some big farm-horses, whose
great strength had been praised by his host. He persuaded Beauchene
to join him in the inspection, and the three men were starting, when
Constance and Valentine, somewhat inquisitive with respect to that farm,
the great growth of which still filled them with stupefaction, decided
to follow, leaving the rest of the family installed under the trees,
amid the smiling peacefulness of that fine afternoon.