midnight
Mademoiselle Rouault was busy with her trousseau . Part of it was ordered at Rouen , and she made herself chemises and nightcaps after fashion-plates that she borrowed . When Charles visited the farmer , the preparations for the wedding were talked over ; they wondered in what room they should have dinner ; they dreamed of the number of dishes that would be wanted , and what should be the entrées . Emma would , on the contrary , have preferred to have a midnight wedding with torches , but old Rouault could not understand such an idea . So there was a wedding at which forty-three persons were present , at which they remained sixteen hours at table , began again the next day , and to some extent on the days following . The guests arrived early in carriages , in one-horse chaises , two-wheeled cars , old open gigs , wagonettes with leather hoods , and the young people from the nearer villages in carts , in which they stood up in rows , holding on to the sides so as not to fall , going at a trot and well shaken up . Some came from a distance of thirty miles , from Goderville , from Normanville , and from Cany .