Anyway, other sensitive souls around him were wetting their handkerchiefs.

This was a beautiful day, the most beautiful of his life.

After leaving the church, Coupeau went for a drink with Lorilleux, who had remained dry-eyed.
That evening the Poissons' house-warming was very lively.

Friendship reigned without a hitch from one end of the feast to the other.

When bad times arrive one thus comes in for some pleasant evenings, hours during which sworn enemies love each other.