THE WEDDING.
A crowd of carriages stood in front of the church--a throng of
richly-dressed persons filled it, with such life and bustle as sacred
walls never witness, save on the occasion of a grand wedding. Mrs.
Harrington had done her pleasant work famously. Not a fashionable person
among her own friends, or a distinguished one known to bridegroom or
bride, had been omitted. Thus the stately church was crowded. Snowy
feathers waved over gossamer bonnets; lace, glittering silks, and a
flash of jewels were seen on every hand, fluttering in the dim religious
light around smiling faces and gracefully bending figures.
A buzz of whispered conversations rose from nave to gallery; for a large
portion of that brilliant throng had never seen the bride, and curiosity
was on the _qui vive_ regarding a person so utterly unknown to society,
who had carried off the greatest match of the season.
In one of the front pews a friend of Mrs. Harrington was sitting with a
group of her own confidential acquaintances. Of course she knew all
about it, and could tell them why Mr. Mellen had chosen a wife so
utterly unknown to their set.
Certainly Mrs. C. knew all about it--had the particulars from her sweet
friend, Mrs. Harrington, who was, they all knew, a sort of lady
patroness to the affair. Would she tell? Of course--why not? There was
no secret about it now, and it might be ten minutes before the bridal
party came in.
"Well, this was it. Mr. Mellen was--"
Oh they all knew about Mr. Mellen; he had been in business down town
before that worthy old gentleman his uncle died, and left him so
enormously rich that there was no guessing how many millions he was
worth. Did they know his sister? Of course: what a sweet pretty creature
she was! Strange that the old uncle forgot to make her an heiress,--cut
off a relative whom he had almost adopted, and left everything to
Mellen, who did not expect it. Sweet Elsie was quite overlooked, and had
nothing on earth but her beauty. But the bride, the bride, what about
her?
"Well," said Mrs. C----, coming out of this storm of whispers smiling
and flushed, "there is no great mystery in the bride. Indeed, so far as
she was concerned, everything was rather common-place--such people had
been done up so often in romances that it was tiresome."
"You don't mean to say that she was that eternal governess who is
continually travelling through magazines and marrying the rich young
gentleman of the house?" cried a voice, almost out loud.
"No, no, nothing quite so bad as that," answered Mrs. C----, with a low
soothing "hush," and shaking her head till all the pink roses on her
bonnet fluttered again. "She came from somewhere in New England. The
father was thought to be a rich man. At any rate he gave her a splendid
education, and travelled with her in Europe nearly two years, when she
was quite a missish girl. He also educated her cousin, the young man who
is to be groomsman, and gave him a handsome setting out in life; but
when the father died there was nothing left--all his property mortgaged
or something--at any rate Elizabeth never got a cent, and her cousin
would have been poor as a church-mouse but for the money which had set
him up in a splendid business. He wanted to make that over to her at
once."
"Generous fellow!"
"You may well say that," continued Mrs. C----, hushing down the
enthusiasm of her friends with a wave of her whitely gloved hand. "She
would not take a cent of his money, but came here to the very school
where she had been educated, and hired out as a teacher; it is said--but
I do not vouch for it--that her bills at the school were left unpaid,
and she worked the debt out."
"Is it possible!"
"Dear me, how noble!"
"But how did she get acquainted with Mr. Mellen?" cried a third voice;
"make haste, or they will be upon us before we know a word about it."
"His sister, Miss Elsie Mellen, was a pupil in the school. Her love for
Miss Fuller was perfect infatuation. The brother worshiped her--sweet
creature, who could help it?--and so the acquaintance began in the
parlor of a boarding school, and ends--Hush, hush!"
There was a slight commotion at the door, followed by the soft rustling
of silks and turning of heads. Then a gentleman of noble presence, calm
and self-possessed, as if he were quite unconscious of all the eyes bent
upon him, came slowly up the broad aisle with the object of all this
conversation leaning on his arm.
Certainly the bride gave no evidence of her low estate in that rustling
white silk, which shone like crusted snow through a sheen of tulle; or
in the veil of Brussels lace that fell around her like a fabric of
cobwebs overrun with frostwork. You could detect intense emotion from
the shiver of the clematis spray, mingled with snowy roses, in her black
hair; but otherwise she seemed quiet and remarkably self-sustained.
Following close upon this noble pair, came a tall, loose-jointed young
man, glowing with pride of the lovely creature on his arm; and, really,
any thing more beautiful, in a material sense, could not well be
imagined than that youthful bridesmaid. Like the stately girl who had
passed before her, she moved in a cloud of shimmering white, with just
enough of blue in the golden hair and on the bosom to match the violet
of her eyes.
Once or twice Tom Fuller missed step as they were going up the aisle,
when Elsie would make a pause, look ruefully at her gossamer skirts, and
only seem relieved when her partner stumbled into place again. Then she
followed the bride, her cheeks one glow of roses and smiles dimpling her
fresh, young mouth, as if she were the Queen of May approaching her
throne.
The bridal-pair knelt at the altar, and a solemn stillness fell upon
that brilliant multitude as the vows which were to unite that man and
woman for all time were uttered. Even Elsie looked on with shadowy
sadness in her eyes; as for Tom--the noble-hearted fellow made a fool of
himself of course, and was compelled to shake the tears surreptitiously
from his eyes, before he dared to look up from the long survey he had
been taking of his patent-leather boots.
It is almost frightful to remember how few moments it takes to bind
immortal souls together in a union which may be for happiness, and,
alas, may be for such misery as eternal bondage alone can give.
The feeling of awe befitting that sacred place had scarcely settled on
the gay assembly, when the altar was deserted, and Grantley Mellen led
his wife out of the church. Agitation had brought a faint glow of color
to her cheek, softened the mouth into its sweetest smile, and whenever
the clear gray eyes were lifted, one could see the timid, shrinking
happiness, which made their depths so misty and dark.
Grantley Mellen was a proud, somewhat stern man, and at the church-door
he betrayed, in spite of himself, some annoyance at the _eclat_ which
Mrs. Harrington had given to the affair, in spite of his express wishes.
But whenever he looked at the lovely girl at his side, or felt the
clinging touch of her hand upon his arm, his face cleared and softened
into an expression of such tenderness as changed its entire character.
Elsie followed close, dexterously keeping her dress from under Tom's
feet; indeed, she looked so lovely and fairy-like, that it made the
awkwardness and embarrassment of her great, honest-hearted companion
more apparent.
Tom Fuller knew that he appeared dreadfully out of place playing a part
at this imposing ceremony, but he had never in all his life refused a
request that Elizabeth made, and during the last three months, the
mischievous sprite by his side had kept his blundering head in a state
of such constant bewilderment, and so stirred every chord in his great,
manly heart, that he would not have minded in the least stumbling over
red hot ploughshares for the pleasure of walking with her even the
length of a church aisle.
The group had reached the porch and lingered there a moment, waiting for
the carriages to draw up. The shadows were all gone from Grantley
Mellen's face now; he bent his head and whispered a few words, that made
Elizabeth's cheek glow into new beauty. Suddenly her glance wandered
towards the crowd on her left--a sudden pallor swept the roses from her
cheek--her hand closed convulsively on Mellen's arm; but in an instant,
before even he had noticed her agitation, it had passed--she walked on
to the carriage graceful and queen-like as ever.
Standing among the throng at which she had cast that one glance, stood
the man who had rescued her from danger only a few days before. He was
gazing eagerly into the faces of the newly made husband and wife, with
an expression upon his features which it was not easy to understand. But
after that quick look, Elizabeth never again turned her head, and the
stranger shrank back among the crowd and disappeared.
The guests were gathered about the sumptuous table which Mrs. Harrington
had prepared, and the fair widow herself, in a dress which would have
been youthful even for Elsie, was in a state of flutter and excitement
which baffles description.
She was gay and coquettish as a girl of sixteen; but there was enough of
real kindliness in her character to make those who knew her forgive
these girlish affectations and the little delusion under which she
labored--that certain specially-favored people, like herself, never did
get beyond eighteen, being so sensitive and fresh of soul, that age
never reached them.
I doubt if there ever was a wedding reception that did not prove a
somewhat dull affair, and though this was as nearly an exception as
possible, Mellen seized the first opportunity to whisper Elizabeth that
it was time to prepare for their departure.
"And so I shan't see you for a whole week," said Tom Fuller, ruefully,
as he accompanied Elsie out of the room, when she followed Elizabeth up
stairs to change her dress. "What shall I do with myself all that time?"
"A whole week!" repeated she, laughing merrily; "it's quite dreadful to
contemplate--I only hope you won't die, and put poor Bessie into
mourning before the honeymoon is over."
"Oh, you are laughing at me," said Tom, heaving a sigh that was a
perfect blast of grief.
"How can you fancy that?" cried Elsie; "I thought I was showing great
sympathy."
"You always do laugh at me," urged Tom, "and it's downright cruel! I
know I am awkward, and always do the wrong thing at the wrong moment,
but you needn't be so hard on a fellow."
"There, there!" said Elsie, patting his arm as she might have smoothed a
great Newfoundland dog; "don't quarrel with me now! Next week you are
coming down to Piney Cove, and you shall see how nicely I will entertain
you."
"Shall you be glad to see me--really glad?" pleaded Tom, red to the very
temples.
"Oh, of course," cried Elsie, laughing; "you are a sort of cousin
now--it will be my duty, you know."
Elsie danced away, leaving him to pull his white glove in a perplexed
sort of way, by no means certain that he was satisfied with being
considered a relation, and treated in this cavalier manner.