But while people talked the wedding-day arrived. The
ceremony was to be solemnized according to the Episcopalian forms, and
in open church, with a degree of publicity that attracted many
spectators, who occupied the front seats of the galleries, and the
pews near the altar and along the broad aisle. It had been arranged,
or possibly it was the custom of the day, that the parties should
proceed separately to church. By some accident the bridegroom was a
little less punctual than the widow and her bridal attendants; with
whose arrival, after this tedious, but necessary preface, the action
of our tale may be said to commence.
The clumsy wheels of several old-fashioned coaches were heard,
and the gentlemen and ladies composing the bridal party came through
the church door with the sudden and gladsome effect of a burst of
sunshine. The whole group, except the principal figure, was made up of
youth and gayety. As they streamed up the broad aisle, while the
pews and pillars seemed to brighten on either side, their steps were
as buoyant as if they mistook the church for a ball-room, and were
ready to dance hand in hand to the altar.
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