IT was a bright day in the latter part of October that Jerome and
Clotelle set out for the church, where the marriage ceremony was to be
performed. The clear, bracing air added buoyancy to every movement, and
the sun poured its brilliant rays through the deeply-stained windows,
as the happy couple entered the sanctuary, followed by old Mr. Devenant,
whose form, bowed down with age, attracted almost as much attention from
the assembly as did the couple more particularly interested.
As the ceremonies were finished and the priest pronounced the
benediction on the newly-married pair, Clotelle whispered in the ear of
Jerome,--
“'No power in death shall tear our names apart,
As none in life could rend thee from my heart.'”
A smile beamed on every face as the wedding-party left the church and
entered their carriage. What a happy day, after ten years' separation,
when, both hearts having been blighted for a time, they are brought
together by the hand of a beneficent and kind Providence, and united in
holy wedlock.
Everything being arranged for a wedding tour extending up the Rhine, the
party set out the same day for Antwerp. There are many rivers of greater
length and width than the Rhine. Our Mississippi would swallow up half
a dozen Rhines. The Hudson is grander, the Tiber, the Po, and the
Mincio more classic; the Thames and Seine bear upon their waters greater
amounts of wealth and commerce; the Nile and the Euphrates have a
greater antiquity; but for a combination of interesting historical
incidents and natural scenery, the Rhine surpasses them all. Nature has
so ordained it that those who travel in the valley of the Rhine shall
see the river, for there never will be a railroad upon its banks. So
mountainous is the land that it would have to be one series of tunnels.
Every three or four miles from the time you enter this glorious river,
hills, dales, castles, and crags present themselves as the steamer
glides onward.
Their first resting-place for any length of time was at Coblentz, at the
mouth of the “Blue Moselle,” the most interesting place on the river.
From Coblentz they went to Brussels, where they had the greatest
attention paid them. Besides being provided with letters of
introduction, Jerome's complexion secured for him more deference than is
usually awarded to travellers.
Having letters of introduction to M. Deceptiax, the great lace
manufacturer, that gentleman received them with distinguished honors,
and gave them a splendid [soiree,] at which the [elite] of the city were
assembled. The sumptuously-furnished mansion was lavishly decorated for
the occasion, and every preparation made that could add to the novelty
or interest of the event.
Jerome, with his beautiful bride, next visited Cologne, the largest and
wealthiest city on the banks of the Rhine. The Cathedral of Cologne
is the most splendid structure of the kind in Europe, and Jerome and
Clotelle viewed with interest the beautiful arches and columns of this
stupendous building, which strikes with awe the beholder, as he gazes at
its unequalled splendor, surrounded, as it is, by villas, cottages,
and palace-like mansions, with the enchanting Rhine winding through the
vine-covered hills.
After strolling over miles and miles of classic ground, and visiting
castles, whose legends and traditions have given them an enduring fame,
our delighted travellers started for Geneva, bidding the picturesque
banks of the Rhine a regretful farewell. Being much interested in
literature, and aware that Geneva was noted for having been the city
of refuge to the victims of religious and political persecution, Jerome
arranged to stay here for some days. He was provided with a letter
of introduction to M. de Stee, who had been a fellow-soldier of Mr.
Devenant in the East India wars, and they were invited to make his house
their home during their sojourn. On the side of a noble mountain, whose
base is kissed by the waves of Lake Geneva, and whose slopes are decked
with verdure to the utmost peak of its rocky crown, is situated the
delightful country-residence of this wealthy, retired French officer. A
winding road, with frequent climbs and brakes, leads from the valley to
this enchanting spot, the air and scenery of which cannot be surpassed
in the world.