Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-11-26
NO. 4S.


some months before, and had not heard OF
his return.
"A foreign stamp! No. Were you ex-
pecting foreign letter Z"
NO but it is the unexpected that always
happens, you know"
dts awfuly provoking" said susette.
perhaps it was only the recipes Mrs Clarke
was going to send you"
Nothing more likely but what has be-
come of it? It's a prolonged game Of hunt
the thmble."
"And supposing it's letter notifying you
Of the existence of first Mrs. Amherst"
put in Anne, ''or of a legacy left by your
forty-ffth cousin in Australia" And then
the door-b rang.
Well, after that suppose must have ac-
cepted Mr.. Amherst. Everybody behaved as
il had. 1 received congratulations and a
ring, and the parish began repairs upon the
parsonage before l could muster courage 10
tell Mr.. Amherst all about Cedric and my
mistake, how l wasn't at all sure could ever
get over it and care for anybody else, but
that would do my best. And he smiled in
sort OF absent way when l told him, but
seemed content TO take me as 1 was, for bet
ter or for worse only it did strike me some-
times that he was the most undemonstrative
lover in Christendom but hadn't much ex-
perience In lovers, and perhaps they weren't
as gushing in real life as novels pictured. He
used to kiss my hand when we parted that
was all. He was very gentle, but a little sad
fancied with a look which might mean that
he was afraid of SO much happiness, or that
to marry the woman he loved wasn't all fam
cy had painted H. and sometimes thought
had perhaps done wrong to tell him every
thing about Cedric so unreservedly yet l
had only meant to be honest But the day
was appointed and suddenly Cedric appear
ed among us, when thought he was at the
worlds end, and he and the girls decorated
the church with white field daisies and grasses
for the occasion. You may believe that l
avoided the sight of Cedric in the interval be-
fore the wedding as much at possible, but
somehow l was always stumbling upon him
he seemed to be perpetually at my elbow
he surprised me more than once with traces
of tears upon my face the sound of his
voice made my heart turn and quiver within
me. II l had dared to withdraw at this
juncture I'm afraid l should have done 80
but it was too late and though felt like q
hypocrite whenever Mr.. Amherst appeared,
his look of sober satisfaction, which remind
ed me of those lines of Matthew Royden on
Sir Philip Sidney,
"a full assurance given by looks,
Continual comfert in q face,
The lineaments Of gospel books"
might have taught me that all was well with
him.
''You are the oldest sweethearts ever
saw" gossipped Susette. II wouldn't give q
straw for such lover; and as for you,
Adrienne, you resemble ghost more than o
bride"
In short, a thousand years of ,purgatory
would i'll represent my suferings during
those last weeks before my wedding. Well,
to crown the whole, Aunt Browne said Ced-
ric must give me away he was the only male
relative, the head of the family, so TO speak,
and he could do it so admirably.
1--WE shall see," said he, "Pm afraid /
should make poor figure at giving Adrienne
away :" and he stroked his mustache as he
spoke, and looked at me just as he looked
that day when we gathered the laurel for
Susetle's fete-I could have sworn he did.
didn't answer, for fear my voice would be
husky and the tears would start
The wedding was to be quite private-only
relatives. Aunt Browne arranged everything
to suit herself and the proprieties; it didn't
become a clergyman's bride to make great
| parade. At the church, l remember, my veil
caught in the carriage door, and an orange
blossom tumbled from my wreath, which
| Cedric picked up and wore in his buttonhole.
Then he drew my half lifeless arm in his,
and directly the wedding march pealed forth
in great resounding waves of melody. My
1uuld mubllu Dl6W Out
abundant creamy folds behind me, and Ced-
ric and were standing before the altar, and
Mr.. Amherst was reading the marriage SER
vice
l believe Aunt Browne tainted, or she
would have forbidden the banns.
''You see it was impossible for me to give
| you away, Adrienne," said Cedric later when
we were steaming out of town. Amherst is
a trump, and may he find a wife as sweet as
Mrs Browne II it hadn't been for him l
should have been of all men the most misera-
BILE to-day. What do you think he did
| Why, he wrote me all that sad little story
| you thought right to tell him, and added that
he would not deny he was making a sacrifice !;
| in renouncing you he renounced all that
made life lovely to him except his work yet
| he felt that it was better one should fail of q
| heaven on earth than that two should suffer,
and that, if loved you, as had once said
would l take his place at the marriage and
allow him to solemnize it? It was a whim
of his to have it so, to avoid explanations,
he said. l couldn't believe in my luck you
know, Adrienne. We banded letters to and
fro, canvassing the subject. feared he had
made mistake, as l had renewed my offer
| some little while before, but had received no
reply still, dozen things happen to letters
every day"
"Yes, and something happened to yours" 4"
said.
Years after, when Susette and Anne were
married. when Adele's husband had taken
the children home to a new mamma, and
Aunt Browne had gone to the "land of the
hereafter" when Cedric was repairing the old
house for a summer residence in ripping
away the ancient dado in the music room,
which had always warped away from the wall
in warm weather, leaving little crack, the
carpenters unearthed my lost letter. Had il
slipped down there or had Aunt Browne Civ
en- it push We give her the benefit OF
the doubt.-Bdzdr
The King of ece-Oleomargarine.
Jerusalem is to have gas and street cars.
| L -, ,oIon, DIsJoHsJnIfo