noon
She often wondered afterward how it happened that those words of blessing , once uttered by a patriarch of old , should have slipped almost unconsciously from her lips . She did not even wait to note their effect upon her companion , but , gliding swiftly past him , went on her way . Three months after the incidents related in our previous chapter a large and fashionable audience assembled , one bright day , in a certain church on Madison avenue to witness a marriage that had been anticipated with considerable interest and curiosity among the smart set . Exactly at the last stroke of noon the bridal party passed down the central aisle . It was composed of four ushers , as many bridesmaids a maid of honor and two stately , graceful figures in snow-white apparel . One of these latter was a veiled bride , her tall , willowy figure clad in gleaming satin , her golden head crowned with natural orange blossoms , and she carried an exquisite bouquet of the same fragrant flowers in her ungloved hands -- for the groom had forbidden the conventional white kids in this ceremony -- while on her lovely face there was a light and sweetness which only perfect happiness could have painted there . Her companion , a woman of regal presence and equally beautiful in her way , was clothed in costly white velvet , richly garnished with pearls and rare old point lace .