idow or a woman separated from her {112} husband may not marry again
till at least ten months have elapsed since the death or deed of
separation. At a peasant's wedding there is often a mistress of the
ceremonies, who distributes red and blue handkerchiefs among the
guests, in return for which she receives money for the bride. The sum
thus collected is not given to her till she has been married for
forty-eight hours. They marry young, and life is too hard to leave
them much leisure for love-making. The Swiss are not an emotional
people on the whole, and the head, generally dominates the heart with
them. Customs vary according to the locality and the canton in which
the marriage takes place.

In Denmark

the same plain gold ring does duty both for betrothal and marriage,
the bridegroom changing it from the third finger of the left hand to
the third finger of the right at the marriage ceremony.

In France

women of the upper and middle classes often wear no wedding-ring. They
seem to regard it as a badge of servitude, and leave it to their
humbler sisters. In a Roman Catholic French church the bride is
attended by one bridesmaid and a groomsman, who after the service make
a collection from the guests and hand it over to the priest. The two
perform this act very gracefully. The gentleman turns one hand palm
upwards and the lady lets her fingertips rest upon his with her palm
downwards, while, as they pass down the aisle together, each holds an
alms-bag to the company with the other hand.

At one point in the service both bride and bridegroom are, given
lighted candles to hold. Rather risky for the wedding dress! thinks
the careful woman. The bride wears a costume similar to that worn in
England, but the bridesmaid is in more ordinary afternoon dress, and
the same may be said of the guests, who do not assume a distinctively
bridal appearance. Sometimes the civil marriage takes place
immediately before the religious one, or it may be performed on the
preceding day. The Protestant service is of course very simple. Most
married men in France wear a wedding-ring.

{113}

CHAPTER XX

_Runaway Matches--Remarriage of Widows and Widowers--The
Children--The Home--Dress--Comparisons._

Runaway Matches.

The old glamour and romance that idealised the runaway match in the
days of post-chaises and wayside hostelries have been destroyed by the
express train and the telegraph wire. In spite of the change that h