Zoe looked down and blushed to her finger-ends. She presently
rallied, and said with some spirit,--"Never mind them, Master
Pothier! Don't put them in the contract! Let Antoine have
something to say about them. He would take me without a dower, I
know, and time enough to remind him about children when they come."
"Take you without dower! Zoe Bedard! you must be mad!" exclaimed
the dame, in great heat. "No girl in New France can marry without a
dower, if it be only a pot and a bedstead! You forget, too, that
the dower is given, not so much for you, as to keep up the credit of
the family. As well be married without a ring! Without a dower,
indeed!"
"Or without a contract written by a notary, signed, sealed, and
delivered!" chimed in Master Pothier.
"Yes, Master Pothier, and I have promised Zoe a three-days wedding,
which will make her the envy of all the parish of Charlebourg. The
seigneur has consented to give her away in place of her poor defunct
father; and when he does that he is sure to stand godfather for all
the children, with a present for every one of them! I shall invite
you too, Master Pothier!"
Zoe affected not to hear her mother's remark, although she knew it
all by heart, for it had been dinned into her ears twenty times a
day for weeks, and sooth to say, she liked to hear it, and fully
appreciated the honors to come from the patronage of the seigneur.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106