She turned over all the leaves once more, then
gave it to him without being confused, happy in thinking that in herself
she was nothing, but that she owed everything to him. So deeply touched
was he by this act, that he knelt down, kissed her hands while tears
came to his eyes, as if it were she who had made him the one gift, the
royal gift of her heart.
For two weeks the preparations occupied all Beaumont, both the upper and
the lower town being in a state of great excitement therefrom. It was
said that twenty working-girls were engaged day and night upon the
trousseau. The wedding-dress alone required three persons to make it,
and there was to be a _corbeille_, or present from the bridegroom, to
the value of a million of francs: a fluttering of laces, of velvets, of
silks and satins, a flood of precious stones--diamonds worthy a Queen.
But that which excited the people more than all else was the great
amount given in charity, the bride having wished to distribute to
the poor as much as she had received herself. So another million was
showered down upon the country in a rain of gold. At length she was able
to gratify all her old longings of benevolence, all the prodigalities
of her most exaggerated dreams, as with open hands she let fall upon the
wretched and needy a stream of riches, an overflow of comforts.
Pages:
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371