Harland_Alone.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
' answered '
have not been engaged a week ! know the groom?' "
yes ! he is a noble fellow ! am rejoiced she is to
marry him at last.' "
" what did say to this?'' asked the inquisitive
. " need not pretend you have told us all."
" ! nothing of consequence. spoke very carelessly,
of his being nothing extra,' and she is welcome to him,' with
no symptoms of unusual malice."
" she does not care now, having transferred her atten-
tions to . . harp will hang upon the willow,
too, or my name is not !"
note was handed .
" ' on piled from your countenance," said the
volatile bridesmaid.
read it aloud. " is with . your
plans undergo any alteration in consequence ?
". ."
" is the loose screw, spoke of. would
gladly add . and to" my train "
it, and let her fret !" exclaimed .
" , no !" said , involuntarily.
" cannot " said . wrote upon the reverse of the
billet " you object, the original order will be preserved."
were- no happier beings present that evening, than the
acting host and hostess, and and .
" had resigned myself to 's perpetual spinsterdom," said
to her schoolmates. " rejected several good offers from
no apparent cause j and 1 imagined she had a prejudice against
matrimony."
" was very indifferent upon the subject ;" said .
" was a mystery to many. these deathless friendships
. 379
between ladies and gentlemen, are always suspicious, and pre-
dicted how this one would end."
" is delighted ;" said .
" that surprising ?" asked , with a dash of irony.
" ! they are !" said .
clergyman stepped into the centre of the room.
fourth couple entered first.
" six attendants !" whispered , as
appeared in the doorway. freezing night shut her in ! through
it she saw but two forms a princely figure, his head
erect in proud happiness and the hated, injured rival, to whose
house, curiosity and vanity had tempted her the bridal veil
falling in soft wreaths about her ; his bride ! his wife ! for
emulous groups flocked around them.
" ! how could you deceive me so ?" cried , catching
, as led her up. " . ! we thought you
were the bridegroom ! servant said ' ' !'
't she, ?"
frozen lips thawed into a stiff " ."
" ! how foolish in me to forget that espoused the
cause !' " said .
" you believed the mistress would imitate the maid's
example, ?" returned . " you inconsola-
ble that am single yet?"
" ! overjoyed ! change has come over my desperate
spirit, since -discovered my mistake. ! we
must congratulate them."
was immovable. " never pay congratulations."
" decency's sake !" heard say, angrily.
"'t get into one of your surly humors to-night!
well ! stay where you are !" and she walked off with . .
" sigh what is its interpretation ?" asked . , of
, as they were watching and enjoying the lively company,
which had none of the stiffness usual to weddings.
" sigh ? it was in thought not in sadness, then."
" hoped. was the weighty reflection ?"
" was running over the bridals and bridal-parties have
attended each marking some important epoch in my history.
380 .
. 's 's sister met , and gained an
insight into 's character."
" were pleasant data. 's was next was it not ?"
chosen wife though she was, she hung her head.
had to bend to hear the faint accents. -" received a letter from
you !"
" may forget that. on."
" . installed his new wife, and was her
bridesmaid. forget her also ?"
" do yes " an unclouded eye answering hers.
" . had a party in honour of her nephew's mar-
riage; and a series of events succeeded, which occasioned me
vexation and trouble ; but was not the principal actor."
" the secret of another, you are not empowered to reveal.
! next ?"
" this!"
" of three of the five you have mentioned, disaster and
sorrow have arisen. proportion of joy in this woeful life
is variously estimated, from two-fifths to two-thirds. we do
no violence to natural laws, in assuming this to be a white mile-
stone."
. 381
.
stability of wedded happiness may be fairly tested in six
years ; and that number has elapsed since the wedding-eve at
; a month or two more for hickory logs are
heaped upon the carved andirons, and the arrowy blaze sheds a
red glare upon a group of familiar faces : , unaltered,
save that the benign lustre of his eye formerly seen only by
his best friends, has become habitual; , hand-
somer in the prime of manhood than as the slender student;
and, her elbow resting on his knee, sits upon a low divan, his
wife. has dealt leniently with the others, he has acted
repentantly towards her. is younger, in face and manner,
at twenty-seven, than she was at seventeen. husband's
equal in many respects, and treated by him as such she has
never endured the servile subjugation of soul, which transforms
intelligent women into inane, mindless machines. yielding to
his superior judgment, when in contrariety to hers, her will has
parted with none of its strength in the bend which proved its
pliancy. is a pleasure, not a cross.
" read to-day of a . , called to the street
, ," says . " it 's husband ?"
identical personage !" replies , with pride. " high
compliment to so young a preacher !"
" is a man of superior talents," pronounces . ;
" a divine of 's making."
" . 's, you mean and maybe, after all, the -
bath-school is entitled to the honour of teaching him that the
healing of men's souls, not their bodies, was his vocation. .
and had a pitched battle whenever we met, over our
interference with his pupil, until his trial-sermon, which was
delivered in our church. strode across the aisle, at
the close of the services, wiping his eyes. 1 1 forgive you,
madam, and that meddling husband of yours ! stars ! what
a parson was near spoiling !' "
382 .
" meet your wishes, as . '-
'. . supports her authority, or the stig-.-ii
attached to her father's memory would weaken her influence.
looks sad to-night. is the third anniversary of hi.s
miserable end."
" was burnt alive was he not 1"
" is supposed so. was found dead his body partly
consumed upon the hearth of his room. he fell down
in a drunken fit. blow was almost too great for 's
reason. affection covered the remembrance of all his
faults. children were taken by their mother's relations, to
whom he would not allow them to go, in his life-time.
has continued with us."
" a passion for proteges ! last time saw
, she inquired what your newest hobby was."
did you reply ?" inquires . .
" ladies dismissed hobbies, when they were provided
with 'hubbies ' an execrable play upon words, which she may
have construed into an ill-natured fling at her single-blessedness."
" ought not. dit that has supplanted
me in your bachelor friendship ; and she is not likely to marry."
" more than myself but is not
. maids are a much-abused class of the community ;
trust to her to redeem their character, but is a fright-
ful counterpoise. you had remained single "
didn't !" says , smiling archly at her liege lord.
" you two have only yourselves to blame."
" " subjoins . , teasingly.
is another enchanting spinster, ."
is grave.
" observe my wife nurses her jealousy yet."
" pity her, ! not for losing you, but shall always
think that she loved as sincerely as it was in
her nature to do."
" dismiss him, then?" queries .
" had the credit of it. my opinion, he made hci
. 383
discard . by threats or blandishments; then punished
her perfidy to him and others by violating his engagement."
" unmanly act but a just lesson ! is marvellously
improved by his marriage. it a love-match ?"
" believe so. is a lovely girl ; just the equable tem-
perament to balance his flightiness. a contrast to his
sister "
she taken the veil ?"
" ! yes ! wrote to me, at her mother's death, that
' having lost both parents, and her brother's marriage making
him independent of her cares, she should devote the remnant of
her sorrowful days to prayer and expiation of her sins if peni-
tence and mortification could atone.' "
"tf, indeed!" says . , " she is more sinned
against, than sinning. remorse, much as it misguides her,
is more creditable than her step-daughter's insensibility."
(t " sighs .
" * poor ?' " asks . , of all people, have
least cause to be sorry for her."
" have most, because know her best. is not happy
never was and never will be unless her heart is changed.
have not forgotten the misery of a part of my sojourn with her;
yet honestly preferred my to state hers."
" are very unlike."
", perhaps and thought we were then; but my
mother's training was all that saved my disposition from adapt-
ing itself to . 's mould. had no talisman. wish
she had a hundredth part of my happiness. woman is so
lonely without a home and friends ! are to us do not
say to you necessaries of life."
" can gain them," replies . " did."
" be taught the inadequacy of perishable things to satisfy
a soul which must live forever !" muses , gazing into the
blaze. can apply literally that text ye first the king-
dom of , and righteousness ; and all these things shall
be added unto you.' "
" are not many who can, in a temporal sense," says
.
384 .
" who may not, spiritually? will men make a
comfortless, doleful mystery of our cheerful, life-giving, home
? not think, write, talk of it ? "
act it ?" interrupts .