Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 edition. Excerpt: ... ii. the livrees. hen they were all assembled in the house, they closed the doors and windows with the utmost care; they even barricaded the window of the attic. They placed boards, benches, stumps, and tables across every entrance, as if preparing to resist a siege, and then there fell upon this fortified interior a solemn silence of expectation, until songs, laughter, and the sound of rustic musical instruments were heard in the distance. It was the bridegroom's band with Germain at its head, accompanied by his boldest companions, and the grave-digger by his kinsfolk, friends, and servants, who formed a gay and lusty party. As they drew near the house they walked more slowly, consulted together, and became silent. The young girls, shut up in the building, had arranged little loop-holes at the windows through which they saw the men arrive and spread out in battle array. A fine, cold rain was falling, which added to the piquancy of the situation, since there was a great fire crackling upon the hearth of the house. Marie would have preferred to abridge the inevitable slowness of this regular siege; she did not like to see her betrothed cooling his heels in such a fashion, but she had no vote in the chapter in the circumstances, and she was even obliged to share ostensibly in the mischievous cruelty of her companions. When the two armies were thus face to face, a discharge of arms by those outside set all the dogs in the neighborhood to baying. Those in the house sprang to the door barking, thinking the attack real; and the little children, whom their mothers strove in vain to reassure, began to cry and to tremble. This whole scene was so well played that a stranger would have been deceived by it and might perhaps have thought of putting...