Up drove, first, lady’s maids and men-servants, their carriage loaded with trunks and boxes.  The household was already swelled to double or to treble its size, and then appeared the visitors themselves.  There was the great aunt, with Luciana and some of her friends; and then the bridegroom with some of his friends.  The entrance-hall was full of things—­bags, portmanteaus, and leather articles of every sort.  The boxes had to be got out of their covers, and that was infinite trouble; and of luggage and of rummage there was no end.  At intervals, moreover, there were violent showers, giving rise to much inconvenience.  Ottilie encountered all this confusion with the easiest equanimity, and her happy talent showed in its fairest light.  In a very little time she had brought things to order, and disposed of them.  Every one found his room—­every one hand his things exactly as they wished, and all thought themselves well attended to, because they were not prevented from attending on themselves.

The journey had been long and fatiguing, and they would all have been glad of a little rest after it.  The bridegroom would have liked to pay his respects to his mother-in-law, express his pleasure, his gratitude, and so on.  But Luciana could not rest.  She had now arrived at the happiness of being able to mount a horse.  The bridegroom had beautiful horses, and mount they must on the spot.  Clouds and wind, rain and storm, they were nothing to Luciana, and now it was as if they only lived to get wet through, and to dry themselves again.  If she took a fancy to go out walking, she never thought what sort of dress she had on, or what her shoes were like; she must go and see the grounds of which she had heard so much; what could not be done on horseback, she ran through on foot.  In a little while she had seen everything, and given her opinion about everything; and with such rapidity of character it was not easy to contradict or oppose her.  The whole household had much to suffer, but most particularly the lady’s maids, who were at work from morning to night, washing, and ironing, and stitching.

As soon as she had exhausted the house and the park, she thought it was her duty to pay visits all around the neighborhood.  Although they rode and drove fast, “all around the neighborhood” was a goodly distance.  The castle was flooded with return visits, and that they might not miss one another, it soon came to days being fixed for them.

Charlotte, in the meantime, with her aunt, and the man of business of the bridegroom, were occupied in determining about the settlements, and it was left to Ottilie, with those under her, to take care that all this crowd of people were properly provided for.  Gamekeepers and gardeners, fishermen and shopdealers, were set in motion, Luciana always showing herself like the blazing nucleus of a comet with its long tail trailing behind it.  The ordinary amusements of the parties soon became too insipid for her taste.