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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: "Call in the families," said the mayor to the clerk whose business it
was to read aloud the certificates.
"The father and mother protest," replied the clerk, phlegmatically.
"On both sides?" inquired the mayor.
"The groom is an orphan."
"Where are the witnesses?"
"Here," said the clerk, pointing to the four men, who stood with arms
folded, like so many statues.
"But if the parents protest--" began the mayor.
"The respectful summons has been duly served," replied the clerk,
rising, to lay before the mayor the papers annexed to the marriage
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