Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-01-22
the Right O.. gganslation is Reserved.
CHkPT rs Lx.-THE MARRIAGE.


And no e &c must go back few " seks
n cuI 1Ar-3tive, 20 where We left the in
mates & z 1se Cottage, as it was named
th.ugz = small two-storied villa.
"TbeIe e G glamour IL love-" come
writer tells u, adding, perhsps with
truth, thar "what We love is not The
tangible man or woman, as the case may
be, who livea, breathes, ard exists, but
the farcy OF cur own hearts-ihe ideal
that we have created out of our own IN
satisfied longing"
Be ell thst as it msY, MelsDie had no
such ihOug 1te-Snd ye. Ter msrriage was
close at hHEd uow, painfully CLOSES it
v7ss contr&c: IN @hiCh her heart had &c
sbsre; degrading enc she felt il to be-
So, at lsst, but one Gay INTERVIEWED
Meianie mad rot watched the papers for
some tine past, as Kind of curious n
difference 70 everything, d kind of dumb
despair OF her future, possessed her now :;
but had s1e seen the only paper that
came to Rose Cottage, even on the morn
lng Il her msrrisge, 1t ,might have
changed th.t future indeed.
Uncle GrimshsW had looked, however,
enc seen bNLuIlCHl W InGkS ulU COUCSEl
the newspaper IL hot haste.
The intelligence he eaw Yves sufficiently
startling, especially at such crisis. Il
was 10 the effect that Captain Montague
L0ngd:le, who disappeared after the cap,
ture CT AVE, aId had SO miracul0usly eS-
csD5d the Dac0its, reaching our guu-
boat Kathleen on the IraWaddy some
time before, was now coming hcme
in charge OK sick ard wounded men from
RsngoOn!"
"Coming homel" muttered Uncle
Grimshaw; and, So he concealed the
paper, something like & malediction ee-
caOed him, and he hurried away to see
Mrs. Chilliugton, who had taken up her
quarters at Rose Cottage "till the event
came off,"
Melanie WAS thinking of Der future
when married 20 Sir BriscO. She con-
trasted her years, barely twenty, with
his, over Sky; and knew when she W6s
forty, if spared, he WOuld be sn seed a0d
helpless creature OF eighty-heipless per-
haps as poor Reggie.
On her marriage morning she was
somewhat like an autonaton in tue
hands Of Mrs Cnillington, old Bethia, snd
more especially M.demoiselle Ciochatte,
10 wACm was chiefly assigned tas duty
Of o5,iriDg her; while her "sffectionate
auat" han duly brought her well-hUng
ctTrlsEe for her use, with the powered
cotcGmsa duly eccoutred with bouquets
ard breast knots
"TbCra never Was bride more becuu-
fal than You, Miss Talbot" said C!och-
cite, IN her Gr0Een E1glis1, as she fsaten-
ed Z spa7Slic% sp-ay q the Rzvensbcurne
diamonds among Inc dark masses Of NJ
la4ia's hsir "Mcu Dieu-it is c romance
to regard you! J'en suis en- eXtasseI
YOl are pgTfsig!'
and s4e wss sc-Dalfec5 from her
splendid hsir and sDOw-wnlte neck so the
Tins Of me- s3,in shOes-hUt sb, so pain
fully pale, rigid sGd Indifferent 10 ell &p-
kesrSnce.
"Wtth this ring thee wed, with my
body thee woreh1p, ard with 81 MP
worldly goods thee endOw."
Uac.e GcimShsw heard the words, per-
hAps more distinctly than she to whom
they were said, and he thought joyously
Ot Ravensoourne Hall Snd all its concom-
itauts-the settlements and so forth.
Melsuls besrd the solemn words of
promise, and they seemed to echo Though
the old vsuited church OF Stokencross,
first in The wears soft and sonorous
voice, aud then in the firm and quiet tones
OF Sir BriscC, and as they fell on her ear,
the shadow that sat snthrOned in her
heArt-the SHADOW of him, who she deem
ed bad foRnd S soldiers grave so fsr; fer
away, seemed 30 rise upbraidinglY before
her.
Sle dsred not then lift her eyes, even
for second TO those OF Sir BrisCO, noI
cared she TO do so.
"With my 8ody [ thee worship" As
he said this, she felt his strong, firm hand
clAaQ, hers closely; but il felt-she was
coDscious-aigsularly cold and cIammy
juss then.
Why?
Her long dsrk lashes dropped and re-
maiEed Sc till the ciose OF the ceremony.
Nor did SIZE lits them when Dick, with
tear-wetted cheeks, spraug forward to
claim the first kiss "a the vestry, for boy
though he vas, he knew enough to feel
that Melsnie had sacrificed herself for
Reggie and for bin.
No bishop wSs present, as the pars-
graph hsd it; but among those In church
were Mr., Mrs. and Miss Plsntagenet
Pugwash, unlimited, however, TO their
own considerable disgust.
All that followed seemed q dream to
the chief actress therein. The register
was duly signed in tie damp old mouldy
vestry, or whilom sacristy in Englsnd's
older days; and there were two sigma
lures side by side that seemed odd-mos.
strange 10 Melsnie-ss the pen dropped
from her fingers.
Then Sir Brisco drew her hsnd ever
his arm, pressing it TO his side, and they
issued forth, while on the wheezy old or
gan was performed something that was
meant 10 be Mendelssohn's Wedding
March; end they passed through the
usually deserted and sequestered church
yard, now fully crowded, for al the
country side" had gathered to see the
OF their popuIsr landlord with
the sweet young girl whom the poor
knew so well; aud s few well meaning
folks, with their children, ell smartened
up for the occasion, streWed flowers upon
the path before the welded pair.
HShe looks like dsath-a corpse-more
nor BRIDE" Melanie heard one whisper
near her.
''Better be 81 old man's darling than s
young oue's rlave. ! wss none the 'sppler
for marrsirg s young un," said another
Iustic.
"Sfe'u soon De rid of him; he'll croak
arop," was the consoIstory remark OF S
third creme.
Melsnie recsl' ed this speech with dis
may ere long; but meanwhile the familiar
bells were juggling merrily in the iyy-clad
tower of the Anglo Norman church, hslt
drowned bF the cheers of the rustics.
Under the moss-green iych-gate,
Melanie wes led by SIR Brisco to his car