"O, may we join the choir invisible,
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence: live
In pulses stirred to generosity,
In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn
For miserable aims that pierce the night like stars,
And with their mild persistence urge man's search
To vaster issues.
"Gentlemen," he added, "I have one thing to say before I sit down. My illness has not been without its compensations, for it has been the means of my winning a lovely bride," and he pointed to Renée, who became suffused with blushes.
The rest of his remarks were drowned by terrific applause, intermingled with shouts of "Delapine for ever," "Three cheers for the bride," "Good old Delapine," during which the professor sat down.
Other speeches followed, and it was with difficulty that the professor and his fiancée ultimately managed to reach their carriage and drive away.
A fortnight later Delapine and Renée, together with Marcel and Violette, were married by civil contract at the Mairie, and then a little later the next day the religious ceremony was performed at the Church of La Trinité.
The breakfast took place in the dining-room and séance-room (which were thrown into one for the occasion) at the house of the happy couple's old friend, Dr. Villebois.
"Villebois," said Riche at the wedding breakfast, "I owe all my happiness to meeting you at the café at the corner of the Boule 'Miche' last autumn."
"And I owe all mine to Payot losing his pile," retorted Marcel. "If he had not 'plunged' he would not have met Beaupaire, and I should not have seen Violette."
"And Renée's marriage is all due to that lucky café, for there it was that I met Mdlle. Violette," said Riche.