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 an offer to Martinka to do as he was going to do, and give her old bones the rest they had deserved. She might enjoy the few years left to them in health and content at his side. If they got married, she would not be dull in her little cottage, and they could while away the rest of their lives retired from and in happy talk.

Martinka consented and made ready for the wedding at once. Now their banns were to be published, and this was why old Matouš made so much noise, and when Martinka offered the loving-cup of rosoglio to the gossips under the lime tree, none of them was allowed to take a draught only; it had to be emptied to the last drop. Not one of the bridesmaids was so generous with her gift—nay, the gossips never remembered anything like it, though they had been witnesses of many wedding-processions. Old Martinka had spent a good margin of her little reserve on this, but she was held in high esteem for her generosity. For a long time afterwards it was the chief topic of the neighbourhood, how splendidly she had celebrated the wedding of her niece, Vendulka Paloucky.