On the way, he picked up a clerk employed at the Orleans Railway
Company, and old Michaud, who were to act as witnesses. When they
reached the shop, everyone was ready: Grivet and Olivier, the witnesses
of Therese, were there, along with Suzanne, who looked at the bride as
little girls look at dolls they have just dressed up. Although Madame
Raquin was no longer able to walk, she desired to accompany the couple
everywhere, so she was hoisted into a conveyance and the party set out.

Everything passed off in a satisfactory manner at the town-hall and
church. The calm and modest attitude of the bride and bridegroom was
remarked and approved. They pronounced the sacramental "yes" with an
emotion that moved Grivet himself. They were as if in a dream. Whether
seated, or quietly kneeling side by side, they were rent by raging
thoughts that flashed through their minds in spite of themselves, and
they avoided looking at one another. When they seated themselves in
their carriage, they seemed to be greater strangers than before.

It had been decided that the wedding feast should be a family affair
at a little restaurant on the heights of Belleville. The Michauds and
Grivet alone were invited. Until six in the evening, the wedding party
drove along the boulevards, and then repaired to the cheap eating-house
where a table was spread with seven covers in a small private room
painted yellow, and reeking of dust and wine.

The repast was not accompanied by much gaiety. The newly married pair
were grave and thoughtful. Since the morning, they had been experiencing
strange sensations, which they did not seek to fathom. From the
commencement, they had felt bewildered at the rapidity with which
the formalities and ceremony were performed, that had just bound them