Soon they were all sitting in grandmother’s room.  The old woman was very happy.  She knew quite well who Hans Haugen was—­the young people had often spoken about him; and she at once understood that this union wiped out, as it were, much that was painful in the life of her son and his wife.  Besides, Hans’s good looks rejoiced the cheery old woman’s heart.  They all stayed with her, and the day ended with father, after a psalm, reading from a prayer-book a portion beginning:  “The Lord has been in our house!”

* * * * *

I shall only tell of two days in their life after this, and in each of these days only of a few minutes.

The first is the young people’s wedding-day.  Inga, Mildrid’s cousin, herself a married woman now, had come to deck out the bride.  This was done in the store-house.  The old chest which held the family’s bridal silver ornaments—­crown, girdle, stomacher, brooches, rings—­was drawn from its place.  Grandmother had the key of it, and came to open it, Beret acting as her assistant.  Mildrid had put on her wedding-dress and all the ornaments that belonged to herself, before this grandeur (well polished by Beret and grandmother the week before) came to light, glittering and heavy.  One after another each ornament was tried.  Beret held the mirror in front of the bride.  Grandmother told how many of her family had worn these silver things on their wedding-day, the happiest of them all her own mother, Aslaug Haugen.

Presently they heard the Bridal March played outside; they all stopped, listened, and then hurried to the door to see what it meant.  The first person they saw was Endrid, the bride’s father.  He had seen Hans Haugen with his brothers and sisters coming driving up the road to the farm.  It was not often that any idea out of the common came to Endrid, but on this occasion it did occur to him that these guests ought to be received with the March of their race.  He called out the fiddlers and started them; he was standing beside them himself, and some others had joined him, when Hans and his good brothers and sisters, in two carriages, drove into the yard.  It was easily seen that this reception touched them.

An hour later the March of course struck up again.  This was when the bride and bridegroom, and after them the bride’s parents, came out, with the players going before them, to get into the carriages.  At some great moments in our lives all the omens are propitious; to-day the bridal party drove away from Tingvold in glorious spring weather.  The crowd at the church was so great that no one remembered having seen the like of it, on any occasion.  And in this gathering each person knew the story of the family, and its connection with the Bridal March which was sounding exultantly in the sunshine over the heads of bride and bridegroom.

And because they were all thinking of the one thing, the pastor took a text for his address that allowed him to explain how our children are our life’s crown, bearing clear witness to our honour, our development, our work.