be very mortifying to me!"

"Besides, it is the fashion to be married in a white dress; especially
for maidens like you!"

"Here it is not the fashion.... I should be mortified to death!"

Miguel tried to persuade her, but in vain. After exhausting his
arguments, which were not very varied, he was anxious to come to a
settlement of the difficulty. But Dona Rosalia had noticed something,
and lifting her head, she asked:--

"What does this mean? You were not quarrelling, I hope?"

"Nothing, Dona Rosalia; Maximina does not wish to be married in the
white dress,--because it would mortify her."

These words instantly put the tobacconist's wife into a storm of fury:--

"And you take any notice of this blockhead's notions? How does she know
what she wants, or what she does not want? Did you ever see the like?...
Such a splendid dress as you have brought her too!... It must have cost
a fortune!... And what does she want done with this dress?..."

The brigadier's son, understanding what was passing through his
sweetheart's mind, slyly took her hand, and gave it a hearty pressure.
Maximina, who was confused and pained, recovered her courage.

"There is no reason to be disturbed, Dona Rosalia, for the matter is not
worth it. If Maximina does not wish to be married in white, it is simply
because it is not the fashion here. The fault was on my side in having
brought the dress without consulting her first. As to what is to be done
with it, Maximina has given me an idea; she desires that it be presented
to the Virgin of the Church of St. Peter."

The girl, who had said nothing of the sort, pressed his hand to show her
gratitude. Dona Rosalia was ambitious of having her niece's dress make a
sensation in the village; consequently she still insisted that such a
thing should not be done. Nevertheless, Miguel stood firm, taking his
maiden's part, and arguing that she was right. Finally Dona Rosalia,
unable to hide her indignation, swept out of the room, leaving them
alone.

Miguel shrugged his shoulders, and said to the girl, who was greatly
disturbed:--

"Don't be worried, dearie. You are in all good rights my wife, and you
are under no obligation to obey any one else."

Maximina gave him a tender look of gratitude. And feeling that it was
not proper for them to be absolutely alone, she arose, intimating that
she wished to go to bed.

It was necessary for them to be up bright and early the next morning.
The hour for the c