Page:Pontoppidan - Emanuel, or Children of the Soil (1896).djvu/317

 The marriage was to take place at twelve o'clock, but as early as ten the guests began to appear. Emanuel arrived early. After much consideration he had decided to be married in his robes.

Lunch tables were spread in the blue-washed "best room," where no less a person than Villing was acting as master of the ceremonies. In this character he received all the men and served "Snaps" and ale. Emanuel had specially desired that the marriage customs of the neighbourhood were in no way to be broken. He refused the "Snaps," however, and contented himself with a glass of ale. In the course of an hour the rooms were filled with gaily dressed people, and the great question among them was,—who would perform the ceremony? Emanuel had seen the bishop some time before on the subject, and he had hinted at the possibility of coming himself. As an old friend of Emanuel's mother, he said, he was, in a way, the most suitable person. They were all much excited now as to whether such an honour would be shewn to the congregation.

At half-past eleven the peasants' "Holstein waggons" came up, some thirty odd, and they began to take their seats. The carriages for the bridal pair and their nearest friends were drawn up in the courtyard; the others formed a line outside, reaching from the bride's house to the end of the village.

In the meantime Hansine was sitting in her