The season during which, with Lovell at one end of the room, and the
bride at the other, we sat waiting the arrival of the minister, was as
solemn as anything I had ever known.
I made a congratulatory remark, in a low tone, to Mrs. Barlow, who sat at
my side with her hands clasped gazing first at Lovell and then at the
bride; but I was forced to experience the uncomfortable sensation of one
who has inadvertently spoken out loud in meeting. No one said anything.
The helpless snicker which started occasionally from Harvey Dole's
corner, and was echoed faintly from other quarters of the room, only
heightened, by, contrast, the effect of the succeeding gloom.
The bride was perfectly composed, with a high, natural color in her
cheeks, and an air of being duly impressed with the importance of the
occasion.
She had assumed a large white bonnet, though I do not think that she and
Lovell took so much as a stroll to the beach after the ceremony--and her
plump and shapely hands were encased in a pair of green kid gloves. She
gazed thoughtfully, at each occupant of the room in turn, not omitting
Lovell, who never once stirred or lifted his eyes.
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