Bev. I!
Mad. A. Why, be it so.
Bev. Be it so? Be it what, Madame?
Mad. A. I will dispense with further courtship.
Bev. You may, for an indefinite period.
[They go up.
Des. So, as soon as Manuel has changed his dress—
Mar. Nay, dear Manuel, you shall not change it. For the last time, obey the headstrong girl. In that dress you often bore her taunts and insults; in that same dress you shall receive her vows of love and duty.
Man. Let it be so then. I will but ask one ornament—the bud you wear upon your breast. [She detaches it from her dress.] Look at it, dearest. It lacks the rich color and the gorgeous blush of one you gave me once before. But that was lost and trampled under foot. There let it fade, and typify the errors and misfortunes past, whilst this, just putting forth its beauty into life, shall be an emblem of dear hopes and happiness to come.
[Alain gives a signal—the same chorus as in fourth tableau is heard. The curtains are suddenly drawn back from the three arches, showing the park and grounds splendidly illuminated with colored lamps, and the peasantry assembled, in their picturesque Breton holiday costume; a troop of little girls headed by Christine, form, and strew flowers before Manuel and Marguerite, and the Curtain falls on a Tableau.]