I come not for your welcome, I expect none;
I bring no joys to bless the bed withal,
Nor songs, nor masques, to glorify the nuptials.
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER--_The Elder Brother_.
It was late in the afternoon when Colonel Falconer rode by the
Traveller's Rest; and his disappearance, though accounted for in the
apology he had commissioned his son to deliver, was considered the
more remarkable, as within an hour's time the presence of the
clergyman was expected, for whom captain Caliver and lieutenant
Brooks, as two of the principal attendants on the bridegroom, had
gone in great state. There were many conjectures secretly hazarded as
to the true cause of the Colonel's desertion, when the delay of an
hour might have enabled him to discharge his duties to his son and
destined daughter; and had Captain Loring been favoured with any
jealous kinsmen, alive to the honour of his family, or been himself
of a suspicious and cavilling mood, it is quite possible a defection
so extraordinary might have caused some unpleasant feelings, and even
an interruption of the ceremonies in hand. But such was not the case,
and the matter was left to be canvassed by the friends and connexions
of the bridegroom alone; who, after satisfying themselves that the
Colonel had been summoned away by no sudden messenger, and that, if a
necessity had really existed for his departure, it must have existed
long enough previously to allow him time to make his own explanations
in person, agreed to attribute the proceeding to one of those fits of
moody eccentricity, by which, it appeared, he was often affected.
By the time this subject of wonder was exhausted there arose another,
which produced, in the end, still greater surprise and discussion
than the other. This was the non-appearance of the clergyman at the
appointed hour; and indeed the sun set, before any tidings were had
either of him or of the officers, and then not until messengers had
been sent off with led horses, on the vague presumption that some
accident might have happened to the carriage on the way.
Another subject of discussion was the conduct of the youthful bride,
who, although during the greater part of the day exhibiting uncommon
spirits, and running over the grounds with other frolicsome maidens,
herself the most frolicsome of all, yet displayed, on one or two
occasions, a disposition to wander by herself, and even stray into
the woods; and once, when she had strayed further than usual, and was
pursued and arrested, she shed tears, though none could tell for what
reason. As the time drew nigh when the clergyman was expected, she
manifested a great unwillingness to be withdrawn by her bridemaids,
according to custom, but insisted she would walk in the garden, and
that so obstinately, that it required all the influence Miss Falconer
had over her to induce her to retire to her chamber; and here she
wept so bitterly as to amaze and even alarm her youthful attendants.
Her parent, however, being summoned to the chamber, she embraced him,
dried her eyes, smiled, laughed, suffered a garland of snowy
rose-bays, the latest of the season, to be fastened in her hair, and,
so long as he remained in her sight, betrayed no other symptom of
distress or agitation; for which reason her late tears were
remembered without surprise, as being natural to the occasion.
It was not until after nightfall that the clergyman made his
appearance, with the officers. Accidents of a common nature, but
unusual in number and fatality, had detained them on the way. First,
they had broken down, before reaching the village, in consequence of
the loss of a linchpin, or some other essential atom in the economy
of the coach; then, after attempting to return, it was discovered
that a horse had lost a shoe, and that some portion of the harness
had given way. In short, their difficulties were of such a nature,
that they were on the point of abandoning the carriage altogether, to
seek some other conveyance among the neighbouring farms, when 'a very
excellent, contriving blockhead,' as lieutenant Brooks called him,
came to their assistance, and inspired them with new hopes of
accomplishing their journey. This was no less a personage than honest
Dancy, of the Traveller's Rest, who chanced to be returning from the
village on foot, and was glad to offer his services, on condition of
being allowed to ride home on the box with the venerable Richard.
Nay, not content with again setting the vehicle in motion, he even
volunteered, in the warmth of his gratitude, to divide with Richard
the labour of driving,--a proposal highly acceptable to the latter,
who had much of his master's affection for an afternoon nap, and
could take it as well upon a coach box as in the chimney corner. The
only ill consequence of this exchange was, that, before they had
proceeded a mile further, the zealous Jehu interrupted an exceedingly
interesting account captain Caliver was giving the clergyman of his
midnight encounter with the Hawks of the Hollow, by suddenly
overturning the coach into a gully, whence all thought themselves
fortunate in escaping without broken bones. But now arose a greater
difficulty, or rather a series of difficulties, than before; for,
first, it was questionable whether their force was sufficient to
raise the unlucky vehicle, or whether, being raised, it was in a
condition to carry them further; and, secondly, the reverend
functionary, frightened and resolved to trust his neck no longer to a
structure so ill-fated, declared, that, whatever might be the event,
he would enter it no more, but would rather finish the remaining four
or five miles on foot. In a word, they were reduced to the necessity
of applying at a neighbouring farm-house for assistance; and getting
horses and saddles as they could, they continued, and at last
concluded, the journey, but in such plight as caused no little
surprise and merriment among the expectant guests.
In the meanwhile, the tedium that might have been produced by these
unforeseen circumstances, was put to flight by the appearance and
activity of the French dancing-master, who, although carried to the
house only for a whim, was soon found to be the most efficient
adversary of ennui that could have been found. He was no sooner in
the house than he snuffed his way, with the unerring accuracy of a
setter-dog, to the kitchen, where he fell upon the ruins of the
dinner table with the zeal of the hungriest of that species; and
then, having succeeded in first gaining possession of a flagon of
wine, or some stronger liquor, he threw aside his cane, clapped his
hat under his arm, and seizing upon his fiddle, bounded with a hop
and a skip first into one apartment, then another, and finally into
the porch, in all of which were gathered some of the guests, and in
all, as he entered, drawing a savage note from his instrument, and
exclaiming,--
"_Attendez_, jentlemans and leddees! now we s'all dance; ou-y for no
we no dance? Now for de Contre-danse and de Menuet!--Each jentlemans
and his leddee--Mon Dieu! de jentlemans and leddees will be very well
content. _Attendez_; I am de _maître de bal_, and I know ou-at is de
_matiéres de mode_, begar, ou-at you calls fashionable."
The appearance of the man was itself diverting, but was rendered
still more so by his sudden assumption of the character and authority
of master of ceremonies, to which he seemed to consider he had the
best right in the world, and which he was, in the end, suffered to
exercise, for no better reason than that there was no other person
appointed to such an honour. He evidently held, that the chief
ceremony and pleasure of a wedding lay in the practice of his own
art; and he addressed himself to the task of marshalling and
animating the dancers with such zeal and enthusiasm, that several
forgot they were beginning the ball at the wrong end, seized upon
partners as forgetful, or as waggish, as themselves, and set Monsieur
Tiqueraque's heart in a blaze of rapture, by dancing outright. What
was begun in jest, came at last to be practised in earnest; and when
the clergyman with the military groomsmen rode up to the door, they
had some reason to fear lest their ill fate had deprived them of the
most impressive portion of the ceremony.
Their appearance was hailed with the greatest joy, and the more
especially when they declared they had met Colonel Falconer, and
received from him the same charges he had delivered to his
son,--namely, that the rites and rejoicings should not be delayed on
his account, even for a minute. They retired for a little space to
refit their disordered attire, and a few moments afterwards
reappeared, conducting, with the other attendants, the youthful pair
whose destinies were now to be united. The bride was very pale, her
eyes red with weeping, and her brows contracted into that expression
of imploring distress so frequent on her countenance; her lips
quivered incessantly; and ever and anon her frame was agitated by
that shuddering sob which remains as the last convulsion of tears.
Yet she walked into the room without faltering, and suffered herself
to be placed beside the lover, and surrounded by the guests, without
betraying any agitation sufficient to excite remark. All that was
observed was, that she kept rolling her eyes about her a little
wildly, as if in part bewildered by the sudden transition from her
quiet chamber to an apartment full of lights and human beings. At
last, her eyes fell upon the clergyman, and she surveyed him with a
gaze so fixed, so peculiar, so strongly indicative, as he thought, of
a troubled and unhappy spirit, that his own feelings became
disturbed, and he began the rites with an agitated voice.
In the meanwhile, the wedding guests pressed closer around, and the
domestics, thronging at the doors of the apartment, began to steal
reverentially in; and among them, it was noticed that there were
several strange faces not before observed. One of these, however, was
recognised by Captain Loring as belonging to a young farmer residing
near the valley, and he did not doubt that the other intruders were
people of the same class, who had stolen softly into his house,
attracted by the opportunity of witnessing a ceremony so much more
splendid than any ever before seen in the neighbourhood of
Hawk-Hollow. Such intrusions are indeed not unusual in certain
sequestered parts of the country.
With her eyes still fastened upon the clergyman, Catherine listened
to the words of the ceremony, until the usual demand was made, "Dost
thou take this man to be thy husband?" She opened her lips to reply,
but, though they moved as if in speech, and every sound was hushed as
in the silence of death, not a word, not even the whisper of an
accent, came from them. The demand was repeated, and with as little
effect; she spoke not a word, but she rolled her eyes around the
circle with double wildness; and Miss Falconer, throwing an arm
around her waist, murmured, in hurried tones,
"She is ill--the ceremony cannot go on."
"Kate, my dear, adzooks!" cried Captain Loring, "what's the matter?
Are you ill, my girl? What, can't you speak? can't you say _Yes_ to
the parson? Ah, adzooks, that's a girl! that's my Kate Loring! You
hear her, parson? She says, yes!"
"Patience, sir," said the clergyman, surveying the bride, who at the
sound of her father's voice, seemed to recall her powers, and opened
her lips, as if to speak. "Be not precipitate, young lady," he added,
directing his discourse to Catherine, and speaking with a kindly
voice: "this is a question too solemn to be answered lightly,--a
profession embracing too much of the sacrament of an oath to be made
except with deliberation. Take, therefore, your own time, and answer
according to your heart and your reason----'Dost thou take this man
to be thy husband?'"
The words of reply were almost upon Catherine's lip, when a whistle,
sounding loudly from an open window, and startling the whole company,
was echoed by a sudden cry from the room itself; and at the same
moment, the bridemaids starting away in affright, a young man, pallid
in visage, and roughly clad, rushed into the circle, and displayed to
the eyes of the bride the features of the younger Gilbert. She
uttered a scream, and to the confusion of every body present, flung
herself immediately into his arms, crying with tones as wild and
imploring as his own, "Oh, Herman, save me!" and fell into a swoon.
"Death and furies!" cried the bridegroom, recognising his rival at a
glance, and springing at him like a tiger.
"Kill the villain!" exclaimed his sister, in a transport of
indignation, endeavouring to tear her friend from the embraces of the
intruder. But the efforts of the brother and sister were counteracted
by a new and unexpected enemy. The French dancing-master, who,
notwithstanding the violent enthusiasm with which he entered into his
proper duties of fiddling and animating the guests, had yet wisdom
enough to conduct himself with proper decorum, the moment his
reverend colleague appeared, and had been for the last few moments
entirely lost sight of, now darted with a hop and a pirouette to the
bridegroom's side, and roaring with a voice loud enough to add to the
terror, "_Sacre!_ ou-at! marry a leddie against her ou-ill!" he
struck his violin over young Falconer's head with an energy of
application that brought him to the floor, and dashed his instrument
into a thousand pieces. "_Sacre!_" he continued, triumphantly--"I
s'all help myself to the most beaut'ful leddee here!" And, as he
spoke, he snatched up the astounded Harriet, and vanished from the
apartment.
In the meanwhile, the outrage, of a character so extraordinary, had
not been confined to the persons of the wedding pair and the
bridegroom's sister. At the very moment when Hyland Gilbert darted
into the circle, many of the guests, hearing the whistle that seemed
to have conjured up the spectre, turned to the window, and beheld
three or four savage-looking men spring through it into the room,
while as many others, remaining in the open air, thrust long carbines
and rifles among the guests, as if upon the point of firing on them.
At the same time, others made their appearance at the door, armed in
the same way; and, to crown all, the little six-pounder, which had
remained in the Hollow ever since the eventful 4th of July, and stood
upon the lawn near the house, charged by Captain Loring's own hand,
and ready to be fired the moment the ceremony was over, was suddenly
let off by some unknown hand, rattling the glass in the windows, and
shaking the house to its foundation. These circumstances were enough
to inspire all with dread; which was still further increased when the
assailants, singling out the few military officers present, rushed
upon them before they could betake themselves to their arms, and beat
them all to the floor, with the exception of the captain of cavalry,
who sprang from a window on the opposite side of the apartment,
uttering a single ejaculation of surprise,--that is to say, 'By the
eternal Jupiter!'--and was seen no more until the assault was over,
and the actors in the outrage had vanished. The whole scene, though
one of unexampled confusion and terror, was over in a few moments;
and such was the panic, that scarce a being present remembered, or
indeed conceived, the true nature, or had noted all the circumstances
attending the assault. That wild men with arms in their hands, had
been among them,--had struck down several persons present, then
rushed over the whole house, as if in search of some object of prey
whom they expected, but found not, among the guests below, and then
had betaken themselves to flight, without doing further mischief--was
all that was at first known; and it was not until a distant yell at
the park-gate, followed by the faint sound of hoofs, proclaimed the
departure of the enemy, that the gentlemen present were able to tear
themselves from the grasp of the frighted women, and examine into the
effects of such a visitation. It was soon found that the officers,
who had endured the brunt of the attack, had owed this distinction
less to the animosity than the fears of the assailants, who, seeming
to apprehend resistance from no others, had made it a point to seize
them, before adventuring upon the main objects of the outrage. They
were but little hurt, the assailants having studiously avoided all
bloodshed; and even the bridegroom, though stunned and a little
disfigured by the blow so heartily bestowed upon him by Monsieur
Tiqueraque, soon recovered his wits, and joined the rest in eager
search after the bride. She had vanished, as well as his sister; and
by and by, when the distraction caused by such a discovery, and the
ravings and lamentations of Captain Loring, had a little subsided, it
was found that the girl Phoebe had also disappeared.