The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1886-07-01
CHAPTER II.
CAROLINE AND sIBYL MARRIED.

would not be large, and that she hoped h
would be able to provide handsomely for hi
son. At this he waved his hand in conf
dent way, nodded and said; "That shall b
all right" He did not at that time ente
into any particulars, but Mrs Temple, iron
what she knew of him, was quite satisfies
with this assurance and the matter dropped
1t was soon known to the whole town tina
Sophia Temple was engaged to Perciva
Brent, and the announcement a little relieved
our disappointment at the mysterious disap
pearance of the rectors Irritation with tn
widow Indeed, some Of us started tn
hypothesis that what we superficial investi
gators had mistaken for a Irritation was il
reality nothing more than the settling of tn
preliminaries of the present affair We sale
it must have been very !. leasant for the tive
seniors to make the arrangements in tha
snug way; and thus we explained the littlC
intimacy between them.
Pleasant was the early courtship Of thi
happy pair The very skies smiled on it
Never, believe, was there such February
Day followed day in the softest beauty
Mornings crisp with frost, soft, balmy Moons
evenings with red skies and frosty air again
Their love making was full of satisfaction
Sophia found him an ingenious young fellow
with real enthusiasm, full of active resolu
tions for life True, she found it hard to bt
very warm over geology; but his general no
tion of living to use and honor delighted her
think she would have been better pleased
had he talked of getting into parliament OF
entering the church, rather than of achieving
triumphs at the British association, an insti
tuition which at that time had not emerged
from the age of weakness and scorn. Still
she was fully satisfied with him, and gave
him all her love. And he, for his part-it
could not be otherwise-was entrarced with
her. Warmth, purity, tenderness, principle
all the finer parts of character were hers
taste and no lack of humor, ready speech
lively fancy. As to her face he worshiped
it, He always said that her face was beauti-
full, because it was the image of her mind.
Why narrate lovers raptures2 They were all
in all to each other these happy days Of early
spring.
In March the two weddings came off, first
Cars and then Sibyls Egerton Doolittle
had made a special request that the two
should be celebrated on the same day; but to
his request the great Goldmore declined to
II liSplClOL JudU JHe
thing might look ludicrous led him to say no.
Accordingly, we married Caroline and Eyer
ton first; and pleasant wedding it was,
everything being done in most elegant style;
and little Mrs. Barbara Temple looked not a
day more than forty. And Rector Brent,
between the occasion, the champagne and
his own amoro is disposition, cast so many
glances at her, and these so warm, that it
seemed as if he was being captivated anew.
Car, must say, looked splendid that morn
ing; flashing with wit, fire in her eyes, and
her attire faultless. She wore bridal dress
of brocaded satin, and her head-dress, which
was somewhat original-those girls had a
tasteful wa>' OF being slightly out Of the com
mon-pleascd all the ladies; the men, l be-
lieve, locke more at the head which carried
it. Her veil, streaming over her superb
shoulders, made her dress complete, and
we all pronounced her a lovely bride. She
went through the service without any ner-
vousness; indeed, l thought with slight
as if she would challenge anyone
to say she had made a foolish choice. Eyer
ton Doolittle lisped his responses, and the two
were man and wife together. Breakfast, as
/ said, went off w,lL. Little Mr. Brent pro
posed bride and bridegroom, to which, with
many blush and litter, and hand sidled to
his mouth, Egerton responded. He thanked
them all He believed that he tUds a very
fortunate man. Here came a long pause.
Fact was -confdentially-it had been his
great aim in life to find a tremendously
clever woman--a woman who would be able
to point out whether any given work was
erroneous OF rot He did not like erroneous
works He might read an erroneous work
without knowing it, and get his mind upset
He had married q wife who could and would
tell him if given work was erroneous, and
he was very happy. He thanked everybody,
and wished everybody in the room would
soon be married like himself, except those
who were married already. There was
no need to wish them married, because
with a sly expreSsion-they were married al
ready. Here champagne effects became
slightly prominently He believed he had
married a tremendously clever girl-woman
he meant--wife he meant-and he was very
thankful He hoped his wife would try to
make him happy-he meart he hoped he
would try to make her happy-no, he meant
that he uouid try to make her happy, and
he hoped he would do it. Man was strong.
Woman was weak. The man should use his
strength to make the woman comfortable
and happy, you know. AS the poet had said,
it was tyrannous to have giants strength,
but it was excellent to-no that wes not it
exactly. He forgot which came first. He
would look it up, and send them the exact
quotation by post Anyhow, whatever the
poet had said, If it was a manly act, he
pledged himse to DO it, but not 9th, rwise,
and he believed that was the safest way to
leave it Here he sat down with a kind Of
movement as if he were going to pieces, and
we all applauded heartily.
Sibyrs wedding came fortnight later,
more sedate, and even more splendid. Archi-
bald Goldmore loaded his young bride with
presents so costly that, think, to have had
them, some of the girls would have married
Methuselah. Goldmore looked dignifed
enough during the service, and not old; and
he walked down the aisle with vigorous
tread, so that on the whole, the disparity in
years did not appear so great as we expected.
Sophia had been chief bridesmaid, of course;
and in spite of her sisters faultless beauty,
in my eyes she looked the lovelier of the two.
While they were kneeling, sunbeam fell on
her, and when IL touched her head, heaven
seemed choosing her as bride at the same
Wonderful it was how the posture
Of prayer became that girl-the warmth and
seriousness of her face seemed framed for
worship, or for pure exalted love. But are
the two sentiments alienl
No blunder about Goldmore's speech, you
may be sure. All sober, proper, truly ele-
phantine, and thoroughly Great British. The
language In which his revered friend had
the health of himself and his wife
was in the highest sense gratifying. On his
wife's part and his own he thanked them sin
cerely. He felt, indeed, that the lady who
had that morning bestowed her hand upon
him was all, and more than all, that his rev
cred friend had called her. He felt the honor
she had conferred upon Linn He could as
sure his wife, and her friends, thaU whatever
lay in his power should be done to make her
IL return which she deserved. II was d sat