Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-10-10
breathing out the agony Of tortured

heart.
When the service was over, and the
royal party had left the cathedral ne
stole away as mysterlously as he had
come. He was not seen again by the
eexton till the Vesper hour, aud then he
appeared in the organ loft, and com,
menced his task While be played a yelled
figure glided In, and knelt near q side
shrine. There she remained till the
worshipers disappeared, when the sex.
ton touched her on the shoulder aud
said
Madam, everybody has gone but you
and me, and wish TO close the doors
Il am not ready to go yet, was the re.
ply leave me-leave me-
The sexton drew hack into a shady
niche, and watched and listened. The
mysterious organist still kept his post
but his head was bowed upon the instru.
ment, and he could not see the lone de.
votee. AT length she rose from the isle,
and moving to the organ loft paused
beside the Organist,
E'Bertram, she murmured.
Quick as thought the organist raised
his head. There, with the light of a
lamp suspended TO the arch above fal-
ling full upon her, stood the princess
who had graced the royal pew that day
The court dress OF velvet, with its ermine
trimmings, the tiara, the necklace, the
bracelets, had been exchanged for grey
serge robe and long thick veil, which
was now pushed back from the fair girl.
ish face.
'Oh Elizabeth, Elizabeth exclaimed
the organist AMI h9 sunkIat her feet and
gazep wisttulIy into her troubled eyes.
Why are you here, Bertram ? asked
the princess.
i came to bid you farewell and as I
dare not venture into the palace, gain
ed access to the cathedral by bribiDg
the bellringer, and having taken the va.
cant seat OF the dead Organist, let my
music breathe out the adieu | could not
trust my lips to utter.
A low moan was the only answer, and
he continued
You are to be married on the NOR.
row 2
Yes, sobbed the girl 'Oh, Bertram,
what a trial it will be to stand at yon.
der altar, and take upon me the VOWS
which will doom me to living death =
Think Of me- rejoined the organist
Your royal father has requested me to
play at the wedding, and | have prom
ised to be here. If l were your equal
could be the bridegroom instead Of the
organist but poor musician must give
you up
1T is like rending soul and body as
under, TO part with you, said the girl.
Tonight l may tell you ths-telI you
how fondly love you, but in few
hours it will be sin Go, go, and God
bless YOU
Sne waved him rom her, as if she
would Danish him while she had the
power to do so, and he-how was it
with him He rose to leave her, then
came back, held her to his heart in a
long embrace, and with half smother
ed farewell left her.
The next morning dawned in cloudless
splendor, and at an early hour the Cathe.
dral was thrown open, and the sexton
began to prepare for the wedding.
Flame clored flowers nodded by the way
side-fame- colored leaves came rushing
down from the trees and lay in heaps
upon the ground; and the ripe wheat
waved like a golden sea, and berries
dropped in red and purple clusters over
the rocks along the Rhine.
At length the palace gates were opened
and the royal party appeared escort
ing the Princess Elizabeth to the Cathe n
dral, where her marriage was to be SOL
emnized.
1t was brave pageant; far brighter
than the untwined foliage and blossoms
were the tufts Of plumes which fiOated
from stately heads, and testal robes that
streamed down over the housings of the
superb steeds, But the princess, mounted
on snow palfrey, and clad in snow
white velvet, looked pale and sad; and
when, on nearing the church she heard
gush OF organ-musiC which, though
jubilant in sound, struck on her ear like
q funeral knell, she trembled and would
have fallen to the earth had not page
supported her. A few minutes after
wards she entered the cathedral. There,
with his retinue, stood the royal bride.
groom, whom she had never before seen.
But her glance roved from him to the
organ-loft, where she had expected to
see the mysterious organist. He was
gone, and she was obliged to return the
graceful bow of the king, to whom she
had been betrothed from motives of
policy. Mechanically she knelt at his
side on the altar stone; mechanically
listened to the service and made the re-
spOnses.
Then her husband drew her to him in
convulsive embrace, and whispered:
Elizabeth, my queen, my wife, look
up!'
Trembling in every limb, she obeyed.
why did those dark eyes thrill her so;
Why did that smile bring a glow on her
cheeks? ALTHOUGH the king wore the
royal purple, and many jeweled order
gllttered on his breast, he seemed the
same humble person who had been en-
ployed to teach organ music, and had
taught her the lore Of love.
Elizabeth, murmured the monarch.
Bertram Hoffman, the mysterious or.
ganist, and King Oscar are one For.
give my stratagem. | wished to marry
you, but would not drag to the altar
an unwilling bride. Your father was in
the secret
While tears Of joy rained from her
blue eyes, the new.made queen returned
her husbands fond kiss, and for once