They were both familiar with the superstition that whichever one of a bridal couple first sets foot on the carpet becomes the real head of the family, but neither Kitty nor Levin remembered anything about it after they had gone a few steps, And they did not hear the remarks exchanged about them, or the discussions between those who thought that he was the first and those who were sure that they touched it simultaneously.
After the customary questions as to their willingness to enter into the bonds of matrimony, and would they plight their mutual troth, and their answers, which sounded strangely loud to their own ears, a new office began. Kitty listened to the words of the prayers and tried to understand them, but she could not. The farther the ceremony proceeded, the more her heart overflowed with triumphant joy, which prevented her from fixing her attention.
They prayed to God that "the pair might have the gift of chastity, and might rejoice in the sight of many sons and daughters;" they recalled how God had made "the first woman from Adam's side," that "the woman must leave father and mother and cling to her husband, and they twain shall be one flesh," and that this is a great miracle; they prayed God "to give them fecundity and prosperity, as he had blessed Isaac and Rebecca, Joseph, Moses, and Sephora, and to let them see their children to the third and fourth generation."
"All this is lovely," thought Kitty, as she heard these words; "all this is just as it should be." And a smile of happiness, which was reflected on the faces of all who saw her, shone on her fair, lovely face.
"Put it entirely on," were the words heard in every part of the church, as the priest brought forward the crowns, and Shcherbatsky, in his three-button gloves, tremblingly held the wreath high above Kitty's head.
"Put it on," whispered the latter, smiling.
Levin turned round, and was struck by the radiant joy wliich filled her face, and the same feeling, in spite of himself, took possession of him; he felt, like her, happy and serene.
