“In your presence, and in the presence of God and before the Cross, I take Aubrey Leigh to be my wedded husband!  I swear to devote myself to him body and soul, to cherish him first and last of all human creatures,—­to be true to him in thought, word and deed,—­to care for him in sickness as in health, in age as in youth,—­to honour him as my chiefest good,—­and to die faithful to him in this world,—­praying God in His mercy to complete a more perfect union with him in the world to come.  In the name of Christ, Amen!”

Then Aubrey, taking his wife’s hand, placed for the first time on her finger the golden wedding-ring.

“In the presence of you all, before God, I place this ring upon my wife’s hand as a symbol of unbreaking faith and loyalty!  I pledge my life to hers; and promise to defend her from all evil, to shelter her, to work for her, and to guard her with such tenderness as shall not fail!  I swear my faith; and may God forsake me if I break my vow!”

And Sylvie without hesitation, responded in her sweet clear voice.

“In the presence of you all, before God, I take this ring and wear it as a symbol of my husband’s trust in me, and a token of his love!  I pledge my life to his; and promise to uphold the honour of his name,—­to obey him in every just and rightful wish,—­to defend his actions,—­to guard his home in peace and good report,—­and to surround him with such tenderness as shall not fail!  I swear my faith; and may God forsake me if I break my vow!”

There followed a deep and almost breathless silence.  Then Aubrey spoke once more, standing before the throng with Sylvie by his side and her hand clasped in his.

“I thank you all, my friends!  Strange and unlike all marriage ceremonies as ours is to-day, I feel that it is a sacred and a binding one!  Your thousands of eyes and ears have heard and seen us swear our marriage vows—­your thousands of hearts and minds have understood the spirit in which we accept this solemn sacrament!  I will ask you before we go, to kneel down with us and repeat ’The Prayer of Heart-searching’ which I have said with you so often, and to then quietly disperse.”

In one moment the vast crowd was kneeling, and Cardinal Bonpre’s aged eyes filled with tears of emotion as he saw all these human beings, moved by one great wave of sympathy, prostrate themselves before the simple Cross where the wedded lovers knelt also, and where Manuel alone stood, like one who is too sure of God to need the help of prayer.

And Aubrey, thrilled to the heart by the consciousness that all the members of that huge congregation were with him in his ideal dream of Christian Union, offered up this supplication—­