The extremely sudden and unorthodox character of Ella's nuptials was a
source of irritation, not to say dismay, to the worthy Mrs. Kershaw. She
took, upon the whole, a desponding and distrustful view of human nature;
and, instead of meeting Ella's smiling, blushing account of Colonel
Wilton's visit and her engagement to him, with effusive sympathy, she
had nodded her head and knitted her brows, asked a dozen questions, and
received the replies in ominous silence; at last spoke as follows:
"Well, I hope it's all right" (the "hope" in italics), "but it's
curious--very curious. Are you quite sure he is Colonel Wilton?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Because he was frequently at Brosedale, and known to Sir Peter
Fergusson."
"Ay, to be sure, that's true! I suppose it's to be a private marriage.
We must see that it is quite correct, for, high or low, a wife has her
rights. What did he say about going to church?"
"Oh! I scarcely know; something about my having been three weeks in the
parish, and--"
"Did he?" returned Mrs. Kershaw; a more satisfied expression stealing
over her face. "That looks like business, only I trust and hope he has
not a wife already."
"What a fearful suspicion!" replied Ella, shuddering, while she smiled.
"He was looked upon as an unmarried man at Brosedale, for I remember
that Donald remarked that Miss Saville could find time to amuse him now,
because Colonel Wilton condescended to visit him, and that he would be a
peer, a nobleman, one day."
"A peer! a lord! well, I never! Of all the queer turns, this is the
queerest. Still, I would like to make sure that there is no hitch
nowhere. But, bless your heart, no gentleman or nobleman would go to
church with a girl unless he was all square."
"I must trust him utterly, or not at all, he said. I do trust him," said
Ella, softly, to herself, "even as he trusts me." She was sitting on the
hearth-rug, gazing dreamily at a small but bright morsel of fire held
together by fire-bricks.
"Trust is a word I never liked," observed Mrs. Kershaw, who was sitting
bolt upright in an easy chair. "Ready money, in everything, is my motto;
still, I must say, this gentleman seems straightforward." Mrs.
Kershaw's opinions had become visibly modified since the rank of her
fair _protégé's_ intended had been revealed to her.
"I think he is," said Ella, simply.
"Anyhow, I will speak to him myself to-morrow," continued Mrs. Kershaw,
"and let him know you have a friend to look after you as knows the
world," she added, emphatically. Silence ensued; for, in truth, Ella was
too glad of the cessation of Mrs. Kershaw's wiry voice to break it, when
that lady burst out again with a jerk: "You'd best take my parlors--they
ought to be thirty shillings a week, but I will give them to you for a
guinea."
"But why must I take them?" asked Ella.
"Because-- Why, my patience, Miss Rivers, you are not going to turn
stingy, and you going to be a great lady. Why must you take them?
Because it is only decent and proper; there's scarce room to turn round
in a three-cornered cupboard like this place. I'm sure a fine, handsome
man like the colonel hasn't room to move here; and then for the wedding.
This day week did you say? Why, whatever shall we do about wedding
clothes? Still I wouldn't say nothing about putting off; you'd better
strike while the iron is hot! But _have_ you thought of the wedding
clothes, Miss Rivers?"
"No, I do not want any. I have more clothes than I ever had in my life
before."
"I declare to goodness you are the strangest young girl--lady I mean--I
ever met; so mean-spirited, in a manner of speaking, in one way, and no
more knowing the value of money in another, than a half-saved creature!
Why, you have nothing but blacks and grays."
"And may I not marry in gray; but if it is right I shall be very pleased
to have a pretty new dress and bonnet; I have quite money enough, you
know."
"Well, I must say it is aggravating that we can't have a regular spread,
and carriages and favors; wouldn't that nasty, humbugging,
stuck-up-thing, Mrs. Lewis, over the way, that is always insinuating
that I haven't laid down new stair-carpeting because I couldn't spare
the money--wouldn't she be ready to eat her own head off because she
wouldn't be asked to step across?"
But in spite of Major Moncrief and Mrs. Kershaw, Ralph Wilton had his
way, and they were married on the appointed day. The major was so far
mollified that he stood by his favorite "boy" on the memorable occasion;
nay, more, with some hesitation he produced a pair of lump gold
ear-rings, largely sprinkled with turquoise, as a small and appropriate
gift to his friend's bride, when, to the dismay of all present, it was
found that the pretty little ears they were destined to adorn had never
been pierced.
"It is no matter," said Ella, taking his hand in both hers, "I should
rather keep them, just the very things you thought of, than let them be
changed! You like me for his sake now; you may yet like me for myself."
To this the major gravely replied that he did not doubt it, and watched
her with observant eyes during the ceremony. The keen old soldier was
touched and impressed by the steady composure of her manner, the low,
clear music of her firm tones. It seemed to him as if she had considered
the value of each vow, and then took it willingly; he was surprised when
the service was concluded, and he again took her hand to find that,
although outwardly calm, she was trembling from head to foot.
They returned to Mrs. Kershaw's house, where that excellent housewife
had provided a comfortable and appetizing luncheon--the major having the
honor of escorting her back. "I can tell you, sir," he used to say in
after-years, when recounting the episode, "I felt devilish queer when I
handed the landlady into the brougham and took my place beside her. If
she had been a buxom widow, or a gushing spinster, I could have stood it
better; but she was such a metallic female! her hair curled up so
viciously, and there was such a suspicious, contemptuous twist in her
nose, as if she was perpetually smelling a rat, that I was afraid to
speak to her. I know I made an ass of myself. I remember saying
something about my friend's good luck, thinking to propitiate her, but
she nearly snapped my head off, observing that time would show whether
either of them was in luck or not."
The luncheon, however, was duly appreciated by the mollified major, Mrs.
Kershaw herself, and, we regret to add, the bridegroom, who was in
radiant spirits. There was something contagious in his mood--something
inspiriting in the joy that rioted in his bright brown eyes--even Mrs.
Kershaw lit up under his influence, and for awhile forgot the suspicious
character of the human race. But the repast was soon over. Wilton was
anxious to catch the tidal train, and Ella went obediently to don her
bonnet and travelling-gear.
"Look at this, Moncrief," said Wilton, when they were alone, holding out
a miniature in a slightly-faded morocco case; "it is a picture of Ella's
father."
Moncrief scrutinized it with much interest. An exquisitely painted
portrait, it represented a dreamy, noble face, dark as a Spaniard, with
black-blue eyes, closely resembling his daughter's, a delicately-cut,
refined mouth, unshaded by moustache, and a trifle too soft for a man;
the turn of the head, the whole bearing more than conventionally
aristocratic, picturesquely grand.
"There is no question about it, Wilton, this man looks every inch a
gentleman. Have you any idea who the mother was?"
"Not the most remote. I do not think Ella has an idea herself; she says
she had a charming picture of her mother, but it disappeared soon after
they came to London, and she has never been able to find it. She has a
box full of letters and papers up stairs, and, when we return, I shall
look through them and try to trace her father's history, just to satisfy
my sister and yourself. Ella will always be the same to me, ancestry or
no ancestry."
"By-the-way, where are you going?" said the major.
"Oh! to Normandy--to a little out-of-the-way place within a few miles
from A----, called Vigères. There is very good salmon-fishing in the
neighborhood, and we shall be quiet."
"When shall you be back?"
"I cannot tell; I suppose I must not take more than six weeks' holiday."
"Well, I would not write to old St. George till you come back."
"I am not sure about that; I--"
"Here is Miss--I mean Mrs. Wilton," interrupted Moncrief.
With sweet, grave simplicity, Ella offered a parting kiss to her
husband's friend. Mrs. Kershaw stepped jauntily to open the door. A
hearty hand-pressure from Moncrief, whose rugged countenance was
sorrowfully sympathetic, and the newly-wedded pair were away.
"Won't you step in, sir, and take another glass of wine?" said Mrs.
Kershaw, with startling hospitality, to the uneasy major, who felt in
comparative captivity, and by no means equal to the occasion.
"No; I am much obliged to you," said the major, edging toward the door.
"A little bit of pigeon-pie, or a mouthful of cheese, or a drop of stout
to wind up with," persisted Mrs. Kershaw. "You may say what you like,
there's nothing picks you up like a drop of stout."
"No, I thank you; nothing more."
"I hope everything was to the colonel's satisfaction?" resumed Mrs.
Kershaw, with an angular smile.
"He would have been hard to please if he had not been satisfied,"
returned the major, with grovelling servility; and, taking up his hat,
tried, by a flank movement, to get between the enemy and his line of
retreat.
"I am sure he is a real gentleman, and knows how to behave as sich. It
is a pleasure to deal with liberal, right-minded people, what isn't
forever haggling over sixpences and shillings. But, between you and me,
sir, though I am none of your soft-spoken, humbugging sort, I never did
meet the match of Miss Ella--Mrs. Wilton, I mean--she is that good and
steady, a wearin' of herself to the bone for any one that wants. And for
all the colonel's a fine man, and a pleasant man, and an open-handed
man, if ever he takes to worriting or bla'guarding, I would help her
through the divorce-court with the last shilling that ever I've scraped
together rising early and working hard; you mind that."
With these emphatic words, Mrs. Kershaw flung the door suddenly wide
open, and the major, bowing, hastily shot into the street, with a
rapidity more creditable to Mrs. Kershaw's eloquence than his own
steadiness under fire.