rs to the officiating clergyman, who blessed the incenses in
the vases. Now there was constantly heard the movements of the censer,
with the silvery sound of the little chains as they swung back and forth
in the clear light. There was in the air a bluish, sweet-scented cloud,
as they incensed the Bishop, the clergy, the altar, the Gospel, each
person and each thing in its turn, even the close crowd of people,
making the three movements, to the right, to the left, and in front, to
mark the Cross.

In the meantime Angelique and Felicien, on their knees, listened
devoutly to the Mass, which is significant of the mysterious
consummation of the marriage of Jesus and the Church. There had been
given into the hands of each a lighted candle, symbol of the purity
preserved since their baptism. After the Lord's Prayer they had remained
under the veil, which is a sign of submission, of bashfulness, and of
modesty; and during this time the priest, standing at the right-hand
side of the altar, read the prescribed prayers. They still held the
lighted tapers, which serve also as a sign of remembrance of death, even
in the joy of a happy marriage. And now it was finished, the offering
was made, the officiating clergyman went away, accompanied by the
director of the ceremonies, the incense-bearers, and the acolytes, after
having prayed God to bless the newly-wedded couple, in order that they
might live to see and multiply their children, even to the third and
fourth generation.

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