The ceremony took place six weeks later, in the church of St. Honore-d’Eylau, which was not large enough to hold the numerous public and the brilliant corps of officers that assisted.

The witnesses for the bridegroom were the military governor of Paris and the Duc de Montgeron.  Those of the bride were the aide-de-camp General Lenaieff, in full uniform, wearing an astrachan cap and a white cloak with the Russian eagle fastened in the fur; and the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy.

On the evening before, a last letter from his former mistress had come to the General: 

     “I have heard all the details of your romance, my dear Henri.  Its
     conclusion is according to all dramatic rules, and I congratulate
     you without reserve.

     “If, on the eve of contracting this happy union, an examination of
     your conscience should suggest to you some remorse for having
     abandoned me so abruptly, let me say that no shadow, not even the
     lightest, must cloud the serenity of this joyous day:  I am about to
     leave the stage forever, to become the wife of the Baron de
     Samoreau! 
                    Always affectionately yours,
                                        “Eugenie Gontier.”

ETEXT EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS: 

All that was illogical in our social code
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Their Christian charity did not extend so far as that
There are mountains that we never climb but once