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LABOULAYE’S FATRY’ BOOK
did not think it proper to boast, preparations were being
made for a great event at Kerver Castle, namely, the
marriage of Yvon and the fair-haired lady. Two days had
passed in these preparations, and all the friends of the
family had gathered together for twenty leagues round,
when, one fine morning Yvon and his bride, with the Baron
and Baroness Kerver, took their seats in a great carriage
adorned with flowers, and set out for the celebrated church
of St. Maclou.
A hundred knights in full armor, mounted on _ horses
decked with ribbons, rode on each side of the betrothed
couple, each with his vizor raised and his lance at rest in
token of honor. By the side of each baron, a squire, also
on horseback, carried the seigniorial banner. At the head
of the procession rode the seneschal, with a gilded staff
in his hand. Behind the carriage gravely walked the bailiff,
followed by the vassals, while the steward railed at the
serfs, a noisy and curious rabble.
As they were crossing a brook, a league from the castle,
one of the traces of the carriage broke, and they were
forced to stop. The accident repaired, the coachman
cracked his whip, and the horses started with such force
that the new trace broke in three pieces. Six times this
provoking piece of wood was replaced, and six times it
broke anew, without drawing the carriage from the hole
where it was wedged.
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