At this moment the entire Cathedral seemed living and exulting with
joy. The March Triumphal was being played upon the organs with such
thunder-like peals that they made the old edifice fairly tremble. The
entire crowd of people now rose, quite excited, and straining themselves
to see everything; women even mounted on the chairs, and there were
closely-pressed rows of heads as far back as the dark chapels of the
outer side-aisles. In this vast multitude every face was smiling, every
heart beat with sympathetic joy. In this final adieu the thousands of
tapers appeared to burn still higher, stretching out their flames like
tongues of fire, vacillating under the vaulted arches. A last Hosanna
from the clergy rose up through the flowers and the verdure in the midst
of the luxury of the ornaments and the sacred vessels. But suddenly the
great portal under the organs was opened wide, and the sombre walls of
the church were marked as if by great sheets of daylight. It was the
clear April morning, the living sun of the spring-tide, the Place du
Cloitre, which was now seen with its tidy-looking, white houses; and
there another crowd, still more numerous, awaited the coming of the
bride and bridegroom, with a more impatient eagerness, which already
showed itself by gestures and acclamations.
Pages:
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385