A WEDDING WITH TWO CAKES.
The following is a portion of a letter from a lady in Shirani, to her
dearest friend on the plains:--
“It is true that you have the hideous journey over, all the packing,
getting off of carts, paying farewell calls, and nasty little bills,
and that you are settled on the plains in winter quarters--all this
misery is before me. Nevertheless I think you took up your winter
quarters prematurely. October is quite my month in the hills, the air
is so crisp and clear, you can see for miles, the Autumn tints are
exquisite, and the low country seems veiled in a wash of the most
exquisite cobalt and amethyst tints.
“Moreover, I have been here for _the_ wedding. You want to know all
about it, of course, and I will do as I would be done by, and begin
at the very beginning. When young Jervis unexpectedly returned, every
one was quite vulgarly astounded; the explanation of his absence
was perfectly simple, and he brought in his train, his uncle--the
rich man--the real, true, and only millionaire! And of course they
stayed at Rookwood, and Miss Gordon’s engagement was given out at
once--I must say the pair looked delightfully happy. I used to meet
them riding about the pine roads, they also came down to the club,
and tennis, and actually behaved like reasonable people, and a great
deal less like lovers (in public), than other couples who were not
engaged. Lady Brande was simply one large smile whenever you saw her,
and indeed she and the withered little millionaire were preposterously
radiant. He was delighted with everything he saw. (A complete
contrast to some of our visitors from home.) Among other things, he
appears to be particularly pleased with his future niece; I have
noticed them constantly together--in fact, I think he monopolized her
rather more than was fair. Lady Brande and the nephew have always been
_au mieux_! At first there was an awful rumour that owing to a recent
affliction in the bridegroom’s family--the death of his father--the
wedding was to be very quiet--bride to be married in her habit, and to
go away from the church. But, after all, a compromise was effected--in
deference to Lady Brande’s wishes. There was to be no band, no grand
breakfast, no fuss--in deference to the young man’s wishes; but the
bride was to have an orthodox white gown, and any one who pleased
might come to the church and see them married, and afterwards adjourn
to Rookwood for cake and champagne. Needless to tell you, that every
one pleased to attend the only wedding of the season, and a wedding
that had an air of romance about it, and was certainly a love match.
The presents were really tokens of good will--not given for show, and
were ‘numerous and costly,’ as they say in the papers; the handsomest,
in my opinion, was a splendid necklace of rows of pearls, most quaint.
One of the smallest was a button-hook from Mrs. Langrishe. I don’t
know _how_ she can be so mean! I believe she was very urgent in
pressing Lady Brande to take some of her preparations for that other
wedding off her hands. And Lady B., who is the soul of good nature,
was forced into purchasing the wedding cake, never unpacked--she
had a superb one, of course, from Pelitis; but this she bought as a
supplementary affair for cutting up afterwards and sending away.
“Sweet Primrose and Dolly Merton were the little bridesmaids; and as
the former insisted on having ‘a gentleman to walk with,’ Mrs. Paul’s
two handsome boys, in white page suits, accompanied the pair of small
maids. They made the prettiest quartette--Dolly and Sweet in such
smart frocks, Sweet looking really like a young angel, with her golden
hair. However, she came out in her true colours before the end of the
day. I wondered that she was invited to be present in any form, but
Miss Gordon said that Mr. Jervis particularly wished it. There is no
accounting for tastes--of course he does not _know_ her. I declare to
you, that child strutted up the aisle, in her white silk shoes and
stockings, as if she were spurning criticism, and as if the whole
packed church full of people were assembled solely to gaze at Sweet
Primrose! There were several outsiders present--friends the bridegroom
had picked up--two or three young planters, whose hair wanted cutting
badly, a missionary with an immense brown beard, who took part in the
ceremony, that funny Mr. Cardozo, who seemed all teeth and diamond
rings. The bride wore a lovely plain white satin and _the_ pearls.
She was rather nervous; but the bridegroom was perfectly composed.
They looked so triumphantly happy coming down the aisle arm-in-arm.
After all, there is nothing like a love match!
“We assembled in immense force at Rookwood, to drink the health of the
newly-married couple. Sir Pelham made a capital speech--neat, brief,
and witty. There were one or two unofficial remarks which may be
recorded; for example, Colonel Sladen said, ‘She came up with him--a
case of the early bird. The first day she was brought to the club I
gave her a piece of sound advice--I told her to keep her eye on the
millionaire. Though I had got hold of the wrong end of the stick, it
appears that she had _not_!’
“But it was generally acknowledged that Sweet Primrose made _the_
speech of the occasion! fortunately it was to a comparatively small
audience. As she sat stuffing herself with almond paste, she suddenly
announced, in that shrill little pipe of hers, ‘_This is Miss Paske’s
wedding-cake!_’ And Mrs. Langrishe, who was sitting close by, looked
as if she was about to faint, and no wonder. Of course it was not Miss
Paske’s wedding-cake; but the prying elf, who had been to Rookwood
the previous day, whilst her mother was examining the presents, had
overheard certain whisperings, and, having a particular eye for
_cake_, had noted cake number two. Mrs. Sladen almost threw herself on
the child, and managed to silence her and stifle her terrible tongue;
but I believe the imp actually exacted a solemn promise that she was
to have a large sample of what she pleasantly called ‘_the other one_’
at the very earliest opportunity.
“None of this by-play came to the eyes or ears of the wedding party,
and soon we were all on the _qui vive_ to speed the bride. There was a
great deal of kissing, but no tears. The happy pair were accompanied
by a white dog, and drove off (quite a new departure) in a smart
victoria, which was almost buried in slippers. If slippers are any
sign of good feeling, they are the most popular couple that were
married here for years. I don’t believe that there is one single old
shoe to be found in the whole of Shirani.”
THE END.
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation errors and omissions have been corrected.
Page 2: “in in the _Victoria_!” changed to “in the _Victoria_!”