When they were ended, and the blessing was bestowed, the bride kissed, and the bridegroom shaken by the hand, both the wedding parties withdrew to the vestry to register the marriages.
After this they made very slow progress out of the church, their way being impeded by their acquaintances, who left the pews to offer their congratulations.
At length they were permitted to enter their carriages and take the road to Mondreer, where the marriage breakfast was to be given.
It was a great success, of course. The guests remained until two o’clock, when they departed, well pleased, and leaving their entertainers to take a few hours’ repose before repairing to Oldfield for the evening’s ball.
At the farm they all literally:
“Danced all night till broad daylight.”
Then, after coffee, the two brides and grooms put on their traveling dresses and took leave of their friends.
Leonidas and Odalite went to Greenbushes to spend their honeymoon quietly.
Roland and Rosemary left for Washington, en route for New York and Paris. Mrs. Hedge and Miss Grandiere wept freely at parting with their darling, but were consoled by the assurance from Roland that the trip across the Atlantic was nothing at all in these days, and that he should certainly bring Rosemary back to spend Christmas with them, and afterward, if they pleased, take both of them to Europe to spend a long time with Rosemary and himself.
To Miss Sibby Bayard, who had been a true mother to the young man, and who was weeping silently and wiping her eyes surreptitiously, as if she were ashamed of her tears, Roland said: