One of these last was an elderly woman,
who might have been the Countess's companion or maid; the other
was undoubtedly her brother, Baron Rivar. The bridal party
(the bride herself included) wore their ordinary morning costume.
Lord Montbarry, personally viewed, was a middle-aged military man
of the ordinary type: nothing in the least remarkable distinguished
him either in face or figure. Baron Rivar, again, in his way was
another conventional representative of another well-known type.
One sees his finely-pointed moustache, his bold eyes,
his crisply-curling hair, and his dashing carriage of the head,
repeated hundreds of times over on the Boulevards of Paris.
The only noteworthy point about him was of the negative sort--
he was not in the least like his sister. Even the officiating
priest was only a harmless, humble-looking old man, who went through
his duties resignedly, and felt visible rheumatic difficulties
every time he bent his knees. The one remarkable person,
the Countess herself, only raised her veil at the beginning
of the ceremony, and presented nothing in her plain dress that was
worth a second look.
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