"
Then Molly went down with her travelling-hat on, looking twice prettier
than she had done during the whole of the morning ceremonies. It is, I
suppose, on the bridegroom's behalf that the bride is put forth in all
her best looks just as she is about to become, for the first time,
exclusively his own. Molly, on the present occasion, was very pretty,
and Joe was very proud. It was not the least of his pride that he,
feeling himself to be not quite as yet removed from the "Bung" to the
"Thorough," had married into a family by which his ascent might be
matured.
And then, as they went, came the normal shower of rice, to be picked up
in the course of the next hour by the vicarage fowls, and not by the
London beggars, and the air was darkened by a storm of old shoes. In
London, white satin slippers are the fashion. But Buston and Buntingford
combined could not afford enough of such missiles; and from the hands of
the boys black shoes, and boots too, were thrown freely. "There go my
best pair," said one of the boys, as the chariot was driven off, "and I
don't mean to let them lie there." Then the boots were recovered and
taken up to the bedroom.
Now that Molly was gone, Harry's affairs became paramount at Buston.
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