But the lugubrious
vision vanished, and then again before Mathieu's eyes the lawn spread out
under the joyous sun, offering between its belt of foliage such a picture
of happy health and triumphant beauty, that he felt impelled to break the
mournful silence and exclaim:
"Look there! look there! Isn't that gay; isn't that a delightful
scene--all those dear women and dear children in that setting of verdure?
It ought to be painted to show people how healthy and beautiful life is!"
Time had not been lost on the lawn since the Beauchenes and Seguins had
gone off to visit the stables. First of all there had been a distribution
of the menu cards, which Charlotte had adorned with such delicate
water-color sketches. This surprise of hers had enraptured them all at
lunch, and they still laughed at the sight of those pretty children's
heads. Then, while the servants cleared the table, Gregoire achieved a
great success by offering the bride a bouquet of splendid white roses,
which he drew out of a bush where he had hitherto kept it hidden. He had
doubtless been waiting for some absence of his father's. They were the
roses of the mill; with Therese's assistance he must have pillaged the
bushes in the enclosure.
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