Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1870-10-28
DODGEVILLE, WISCONSIN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER %, 1870.

for young man to settle upon some one
lady rather than fall into habit of flirt-
ing" replied Mrs. ,Seacfest, with cheerful
satisfaction. "And have always been in
| favor of early marriages. Where people
wait till their habits are crystalized, it is
much harder adapting themselves" 8.
Mrs. Seacrest's sentence was brought to
an untimely end by the stopping Of a car
too, with the doctor himself to drive.
/ $50 it seems she knew all the time they
were coming this very day, though she
made it so vague And there | was, as my
good fortune would have it, right in the
midst of the home coming" said Mrs
Woodcock, afterward, in relating the story
to Mademoiselle Widger
MademOiselle Widger was the milliner
who lived only three doors from Mrs.
Woodcock, and said mon dieu" to appear
like French woman. She was equally
fond of cup of tea and dish of gossip
and made all Mrs WoOdcock's s bonnets for
nothing.
$50 there I sat and saw it ALL" pursued
Mrs. Woodcock. "And what do you think
madamoiselle, but Ernest came in with a
lady on his arm older than his mother.
My wife, said he, and you might have
knocked me over with one of your feather
poppies. There was never such surprise
in Throckmorton before"
Mon dieu!" cried mademoiselle, with
a little foreign scream. Did you learn
how it happened?"
"No more than the dead" replied Mrs.
Woodcock, solemnly Mrs Seacrest
tried to pass it off in her smooth-it-away
manner, but she couldn't deceive me- l
could see she had hard work to keep her
feelings in. But there she poured the tea
and passed the cake to that old thing as
smiling as the moon. She is such hand
to cover up, and make as though every
thing is just right that happens to her.
$50 you stayed to lunch?" queried
mademoiselle, helping herself to q third
cup ofthat beverage from Mrs. Woodcock's
round black pot as she spoke.
Eyes; they asked me, and | didn't wait
to be urged. | thought it would be "a good
chance to see the bride, how she looked,
and how she appeared"
"Well, how was it?" asked the milliner,
between her sips of tea
"She appeared well enough, far as that
went, if she hadn't seemed old enough to
master young-looking for his years, and |
"Mon dieu! But didn't you have any
surmise how it happened to take placer"
pursued mademoiselle.
"Well, l suppose she must have been
worth property" returned Mrs. Woodcock,
who, like a wise general, never acknowl-
edged a defeat. "But for all that, Idont
commend it in him, and had as lief. tell
him so at his dinner table"
While thus the hidden affairs of the doc
tors family were being discussed and
stirred up in the Hollow, as hen stirs
among dead leaves, on the Hill they were
being carefully covered over like the lost
Babes in the Woods. 1t was never the
Seacrest fashion to parade the family skel-
etons like family Jewels. So they ate and
drank and talked and laughed and tried
to look at the elderly bride without shud-
dering.
But her age was not the worst of it. She
was homely And her homeliness was not
the worst. She was stiff and unattractive
in manner as well as person. And it was
hardly the consolation, that, perhaps, it
should have been, to perceive the unlimi-
ted fondness that the boy bridegroom had
for his aged companion. For it is really
comfort, though a small one, to see our
friends chafe under degradation. Accept
ing slavery with contentment makes the
captive twice slave.
However, the less the family felt like
saying sweet things the more they pressed
the sugared cake, the ice cream, and the
strawberries upon their new member. But
all this time there was something in the
background waiting to be brought for
ward, and it was the bride who had the
courage firstetO touch it.
E,rpoct cho honor1--xuith tho dominant
air of an elderly aunt, "an explanation is
due to your father and mother-and your
sister," she added, glancing sharply at
Miriam, who was fairly sea-sick with dis
gust, and sorrow, and modification.
Yes, Lily, tell them," answered Ernest,
looking at her as though she were sugar
candy.
The idea of calling that old, black, greasy
thing Lily"
"The truth is, then, said Lily, turning
her withered face away from Ernest as
though it cost her an effort "by the will
of the uncle from whom had my money,
unless | married before certain date,
lost it all. And kinsman, who was
heir-at-law, was very anxious to inherit
it."
"The old cur wanted Lily, himself" in
terposed Ernest, "and he thought if he
got her property he would be sure to get
her. AT any rate, he was resolved to have
that
Miriam fairly groaned; and even fairy
hearted Mrs Seacrest dropped her napkin
ring on the floor, and came up from stoop-
ing for it with wet eyelashes. To think
that Ernest had sold himself for this
woman's gold! So Mrs. Woodcock, down
in the Hollow, was right after all.
But, as though she suspected the nature
of their thoughts, Lily went on:
"I had some trouble in persuading Ern-
est" said she, looking at him fondly
through her blue glasses, while she parted
her gray curls and settled her cap (''I know
you had" calculated Miriam, inaudibly).
''He had notion it would be more heroic
to take me after lost my property. But
] had right to it, and / wanted to keep
it."
"We had jolly time, though, lodging
old Drymar. He is about discovering
now, Lily, that he isn't so sharp as he
thought he was" said Ernest bursting into
Joyous laugh that nobody felt the heart
to join in.
Then he took from his pocket the mar
riage certificate, dated that very day. 1t
seemed he had telegraphed to his father to
meet him and his wife at the station not
more than five minutes after she had be.
come his wife.
"We had to turn pretty sharp corners to
keep out of Drymars way" continued
Ernest, still chuckling " He thought he
had Lily safely locked in her room while
L r.. ,c{. ht,aly hn