But one must accept honors even when thrust upon one. It made the prospect of the riding-school seem less attractive to Toni. He not only began to feel that the separation from Paul would be harder than ever, but from Lucie also, and the little baby Paul. In some unaccountable way this little morsel of humanity had stolen his way into Toni’s heart, so much so, that when the baby preferred to play with Jacques in preference to all the expensive toys which were lavished on him, Toni actually tied Jacques around the baby’s neck and made a solemn gift of it to him. It seemed almost incredible to Toni that he could give Jacques away, but it was to him very like the bestowal of a splendid heirloom on a child who is to carry on the traditions of a great family.
As for the sergeant, ever since Madame Marcel had sold her piece of ground, he had treated Toni as a son. When Toni was made a corporal, he could command his own time much more than when he had been a private soldier, but Denise, like most brides, was so taken up with the important matter of the trousseau that she had very little time to bestow on Toni. Toni, never having questioned her authority in his life, quietly submitted to this.
“A corporal was Toni to become.”
At last the great day drew near—it was only a week off—the day of Toni’s marriage. Toni expected to be frightened to death, but Paul warned him that if he showed the white feather he should have the long-promised cuffing as soon as he returned from his wedding tour. The sergeant also suspected Toni’s courage and kept a stern eye on him in the last day or so before the wedding, but Toni maintained his courage and declared the only thing he dreaded was the march up the aisle of the church and back again, in which apprehension he did not stand alone among bridegrooms. Although it was only the wedding of a corporal and the sergeant’s daughter, it was to be quite a grand affair, chiefly through the exertions of Lucie, who dearly loved to make a gala out of everything and particularly out of Toni’s and Denise’s marriage. She had bestowed presents on them with a lavish hand and Paul, out of his small pay and allowance, had given Toni a handsome gold watch.
The great question of the honeymoon and where it was to be spent came up. Being a corporal, Toni could get a short leave—how much he did not know.
The next day Toni laid his case before Paul when he and Lucie were at breakfast in the garden. The boy could now toddle about, his dark, bright eyes like his mother’s. He was fonder than ever of Toni and liked to be carried on his strong arm. Toni was holding the baby thus and he was clutching Jacques devotedly in his little hand. Lucie suggested a whole week, but Paul shook his head at the mention of a week’s leave for a corporal.
“It would be very unusual,” he said.