By some accident the bridegroom was a little less punctual than the widow and her bridal attendants , with whose arrival , after this tedious but necessary preface , the action of our tale may be said to commence . The clumsy wheels of several old-fashioned coaches were heard , and the gentlemen and ladies composing the bridal-party came through the church door with the sudden and gladsome effect of a burst of sunshine . The whole group , except the principal figure , was made up of youth and gayety . As they streamed up the broad aisle , while the pews and pillars seemed to brighten on either side , their steps were as buoyant as if they mistook the church for a ball-room and were ready to dance hand in hand to the altar . So brilliant was the spectacle that few took notice of a singular phenomenon that had marked its entrance . At the moment when the bride 's foot touched the threshold the bell swung heavily in the tower above her and sent forth its deepest knell . The vibrations died away , and returned with prolonged solemnity as she entered the body of the church . `` Good heavens ! What an omen ! '' whispered a young lady to her lover . `` On my honor , '' replied the gentleman , `` I believe the bell has the good taste to toll of its own accord . What has she to do with weddings ? If you , dearest Julia , were approaching the altar , the bell would ring out its merriest peal . It has only a funeral-knell for her . '' The bride and most of her company had been too much occupied with the bustle of entrance to hear the first boding stroke of the bell -- or , at least , to reflect on the singularity of such a welcome to the altar . They therefore continued to advance with undiminished gayety . The gorgeous dresses of the time -- the crimson velvet coats , the gold-laced hats , the hoop-petticoats , the silk , satin , brocade and embroidery , the buckles , canes and swords , all displayed to the best advantage on persons suited to such finery -- made the group appear more like a bright-colored picture than anything real . But by what perversity of taste had the artist represented his principal figure as so wrinkled and decayed , while yet he had decked her out in the brightest splendor of attire , as if the loveliest maiden had suddenly withered into age and become a moral to the beautiful around her ? On they went , however , and had glittered along about a third of the aisle , when another stroke of the bell seemed to fill the church with a visible gloom , dimming and obscuring the bright-pageant till it shone forth again as from a mist . This time the party wavered , stopped and huddled closer together , while a slight scream was heard from some of the ladies and a confused whispering among the gentlemen .
Thus tossing to and fro , they might have been fancifully compared to a splendid bunch of flowers suddenly shaken by a puff of wind which threatened to scatter the leaves XXXXX an old brown , withered rose on the same stalk with two dewy buds , such being the emblem of the widow between her fair young bridemaids .
As At On except from of through to while with