“And if he does come back, Daddy,” she asked timidly, “will you—will it be all right?”
“I haven’t the slightest doubt that as soon as he gets over his little fit of temper, he will return,” replied Mr. Lambert. “He must be running short of money now, indeed—”
“That won’t bring him back!” interrupted Jane.
“Well, well, I am sure that he will feel—I am sure that he will realize—that he has acted very impetuously—and—and will do the sensible thing,” said Mr. Lambert a trifle impatiently. “And now, Jane, will you bring me my slippers!”
[CHAPTER XVIII—THE WANDERER COMES HOME]
The weeks which seemed so long to Elise and Hyacinth, and so desperately crowded to Aunt Gertrude (who was quite as excited and flustered as if she were going to be married herself) we can skip over at will. It is enough to say that within them the old house underwent such a cleaning and scrubbing and furbishing up as it had not known in five and twenty years. Mr. Lambert talked of building a new wing for the newly married couple. The floors were scrubbed and freshly oiled, the brass and pewter was polished until the antique household wares fairly winked at you through the glass doors of the cupboards. The woodwork was rubbed until it shone like satin; fresh curtains went up at the windows, carpets were beaten, the front door and the window frames received a fine new coat of green paint, and Mr. Lambert himself put on a new latch to the door of the Bakery. And when these wonders had been accomplished, Aunt Gertrude entrusted the proprietorship of the Bakery to Hyacinth and Anna, and solemnly shut herself up to make the wedding cake. It was to be such a wedding cake as Frederickstown had never seen before—a mammoth delicacy, destined to be long remembered, composed of spices and raisins and citron and nuts, all buried under a snowy frosting, and artistic decorations designed by the versatile Hyacinth, who was allowed to contribute to this part of it, only.
And then came the day when the Samuel Winklers arrived, and took up their quarters at the Red Fox Inn, midway between Frederickstown and Goldsboro. And after they had paid their respects to their cousins, and presented their daughter-in-law-to-be with innumerable gifts, there was a party in their honor, at which Granny presided with the greatest dignity and Mr. Lambert proposed no less than eighteen toasts which were enthusiastically drunk in blackberry wine. In fact, the wedding festivities in honor of a union which restored the house of Winkler to its former state of security threatened to completely disorganize the delighted community.
At last the sixth of December—the wedding-day—was come.
In accordance with a time-honored custom, the ceremony was performed at eight o’clock at night. And what a night it was! The first snow of the winter had fallen, covering streets and house-tops with a thick, soft, sparkling mantle. And like a Russian bride, Elise returned from the old church with the sound of sleigh bells jingling in the clear, frosty air.
A beautiful bride she was, too, rosy and golden-haired and blue-eyed; and as for Hyacinth! with a flower in his button-hole, with his hair all sleek and glossy, with such an expression of importance and sedateness—it was no wonder that his parents gazed upon him with eyes actually moist with pride, and Elise thought him a matchless paragon amongst men.