This sally excited a hurrah so loud, and shouts of applause, and laughter so obstreperous, that I thought the ceiling would have fallen upon the table. There were but three serious faces present: those of the newly-married pair, and my own. I had a violent headache; and beside, I know not why, a marriage always makes me feel sad. This one, moreover, was not to my taste.
Some concluding couplets having been sung by the deputy magistrate, which, I must say, were quite clever, we passed into the hall to witness the departure of the bride, who, as it now drew near midnight, was soon to be conducted to her chamber. At this moment, Monsieur Alphonse drew me into the recess of a window, and with averted eyes said:
'I know you will laugh at me; but I don't know what is the matter; I am bewitched! The devil's got me!'
My first thought was, that he imagined himself threatened with some such malady as those of which Montaigne and Madame de Sévigné speak:
'Tout l'empire amoureux est plein d'histoires tragiques,' etc. I remembered, however, that these accidents only befel men of wit.
'You have drank too freely of the Collioure wine, my dear Monsieur Alphonse,' said I. 'You remember I cautioned you against it.'
'Yes, may be so,' replied he, in a lamentable voice; 'but this is something much more dreadful.'
He spoke in broken accents, and I thought him completely tipsy.
'You remember my ring?' continued he, after a few moments' silence.
'What of it? Has any one stolen it?'