Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-10-17

1.-The moment is propitious.' said
Martin, with delight. ''And three
| wedding feasts at that! If we are ex-
cluded from ours we can attend one OF
the others"
Then. with graceful assurance, he
| said to an attendant:
mile. Lemonnier's wedding party?"
First foor.''
We were little apprehensive in re-
| gard to the termination of our expedi-
ton as we followed Martin. He,
however. was soon in the room where
the servants had just finished setting
f! the table.
"Ah. l am glad to see you are ready
in good time" said Martin, in a tone
of voice BETTING a master of cere-
| monies.
The steward, who held paper in
! his hand, bowed respectfully.
'Is this the list OF the guests?"
said Martin. taking the paper from
the steward. '.Let US see if it is cor
rect"
Surveying the table with a grave
air, he verified the list, and then said
sharply:
| "You have made mistake. Three
covers are wanting. 1t is fortunate
arrived early" While the confused
steward called over the baluster, CIV
ing orders for three more covers, Mar
tin added our three names to the list
and made the necessary changes on
the table. He arranged a place for
himself opposite the bride, placing us
at short distance from him in order
that we might come to his rescue if
he got into difficulty.
Then we solemnly waited the ar
rival of the wedding guests, who soon
assembled.
Weddings are usually gay, but there
are also those which are melancholy.
That of Mile. Lemonnier belonged to
the latter category.
When M. Joseph Durand began to
pay court to Mile. Lemonnier, as |
afterwards learned, their positions. as
far as fortune was concerned, were
about equal Mile. Lemonnier had a
dowry of one hundred thousand francs
and expectations of coming in for
two hundred thousand more, all of
which had been amassed by her
father in the wine business. Her
father and mother were good, honest
people, whose only fault was excessive
love of money. What they found de-
sirable in Joseph Durand was not so
much his amiability, his refined man
ner and his tender love for Blanche, as
his important position in a largeadry-
goods firm, the forty thousand francs
which his parents were to give him on
the day of his marriage. and the mag
nificent property which would fall to
| him later. No one knew better than
NJ. Lemonnier the value of the vine
yards on his property. which was sit
uated in the center of Gascony. The
| elder Durand. moreover. had one hun
dred thousand francs in bank, which
in time would come to his son.
Blanche paid no attention to these
business matters. She loved Joseph
Durand simply because she loved him,
! because he had manly form and a
rather severe countenance which al
ways softened before her smile, and
because she imagined that with him
life would be an uninterrupted series
\ of pleasures. Joseph Durand's love
for Blanche was equally unselfish. He
adored the charming, sprightly little
brunette; he adored her plump figure,
her bright face, her velvety eyes and
her beautiful waving tresses.
Great was the CONSERVATION, there
fore, when on the evening before the
day set for signing the contract NJ.
| Lemonnier, before the assembled mem
bers of the two families. declared that
the marriage should not take place.
Having become suspicious, NJ. Lem
onnier had few days before under
| taken to verify the declarations of the
Durand family, and he had just re-
| ceived news that the banker who had
held the one hundred thousand francs
which his prospective son-ln-law was
to inherit was about to suspend pay
| ment.
You knew this, monsieur" he said
to N. Durand, ''yet you did not tell
| u.s."
NJ. Durand warmly defended his
banker, who, he declared, was an hon.
est man, and he asserted that although
temporarily embarrassed he would
pass triumphantly through the crisis
in his affairs. NJ Durand was inter-
rupted by M. Lemonnler, who said,
brusquely:
My daughter will never have a sou
! of your one hundred thousand francs.
| But that would be nothing if your
vines were not blighted by the phyl-
loxera, or if your banker fails it is be-
cause Gascony has been ruined by the
phylloxe "a.
In vain did NJ. Du,and explain the
depredations OF the enemy; that he
had Mt uroat keYpense reDlaced tho in.