The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-06-05
sspriscillat0

ically. looking all the while at her sis
ter. whom he vaguely likened to larg,
pink rose, as fresh. as sweet and a
handsome-such rose, in short. as i
would be impossible to grow in . town
and only to be found in remote coun
try village like this.
II thought this was Priscilla, he said
gently. as he took the younger woman's
ksnd and held 1t.
"No-Clarissa," said the other. brisk
~. "She was . child Eve years old
when you were here last But come W
with Us to the Lines and we can talk.
M. Sewerby went-nothing 10th.
III.
L:...e Chinook one morning got :
surI .is.. Miss Clarissa Cox was to be
married at last, and to so very ordinary
. ?crsoa as Mr.. Septimus Sowerby.
Tie villagers thought their Devon.
shire Rcse might have done better. bu'
were careful not to tell her SO; and
every body was rejoiced at the prospect
Of . wedding among the gentry
which was certain to mean . bonntiful
feed for every body. and scarce sober
man TO be counted in the village fol
twenty-four hours after. Mr.. Sowerby
had no family to inform Of his plans,
and 1t would have been beneath his dig
nifty to write the news to any one in his
bank: so when, at the end OF . month,
he returned to town, to make certain
arrangements, no one suspected the
vast stride in life ho had made, though
every body observed that he looked
quite ten years younger, and had grown
almost good-looking.
That youthful look lasted fully three
days after his return: but one evening
returning home tired, after looking al
many houses, not one Of which boasted
the airiness and space upon which
Clarissa insisted, he sat down in his
familiar old leather chair. and . terrible
heart sinking came upon him.
He turned pale. glancing round him
at his beloved books. his writing-table,
his chess-board and his modest collec.
tion of pipes, and the sort Of litter tina,
a bachelor of lonely tastes gets abou,
him in the course of q long bachelor.
hood, and which women look upon as SC
much dust-laden rubbish.
''Where shall put them?" he said
aloud, in helpless voice; land she said
once that playing chess for hours
against ones self was selfish; wonder
what she would say II she knew play
often till four o'clock in the morning:
''She's not very fond of books-only in
moderation. She says nature is the
best book we've got, and the more we
study it the better We are; and after nat.
ure miles behind. she says), human
natures the next best interesting study,
and il we seudy the one we're able te
understand the other. and 50 do twice
. much good in the world as by indulg.
ing ourselves over what other folk write
and think.
perhaps she'll want to 60 into so
ciety, perhaps she'll want to entertain
perhaps but at this moment his good
spirit moved him to look at the bonnie
blooming face in the locket on hi,
watch chain, and as he gazed upon hel
the selfish demon in his breast fed, and
from that moment all matters connected
with his matrimonial preparations pros
pered.
On the evening before the wedding he
returned to Little Chinook, shrinking
somewhat into himself when he found
the village street spanned by arches and
the whole place looking as If Flora had
been engaged in emptying her cornu
copia upon it since early morn.
Every embarrassing" he said to him
self, as he tried to slip into his hotel
unobseryed; wish it had been in town,
COMPOUNDED nuisance when every man,
woman and child in the parish has q
personal interest in the BRIDE"
But possibly Miss Clarissa liked it
II won't!' The two words rang out
loudly through the flower-decked
church; rang discordantly in the ears oil
the bride, Of the bridesmaids, OF the
scandalized clergyman and OF the gap
ing congregations; rang most horribly OF
all in the ears OF the bridegroom, by
whose mouth fiend, surely, had elect.
ed to speak.
He had said them. That he had never
meant to say them mattered not. Said
they were, and abide by them he would.
Pale he was, indeed, but resolute as
death.
wilt thou have this women to be thy
welded wife," and the rest He had
followed every word Of it, and he had
opened his lips to say manly II will,
and something that was not him. and
yet was lis inner self, had answered
for him, and the irreyocable had taken
place.
Clarissa had turned from pink rose
to very white one. To do her Justice
she dearly loved her little man, and
when the awful syllables burst upon bel
ear and brain, she stretched out hel
hands to him with swift pity, believing
he had gone mad; but, seeing hersel
mistaken, she drew up her tall, fine
shape, took her sisters arm, and with
stately steps and calm brow passed
down the steps and aisle. and SO out Of
the church door. The bridal carriag.
was in waiting, and they did not ever
draw down the blinds as they drov,
away.
The clergyman had angrily Whispered
something into Mr.. Sowerby's ear, !.
which that gentleman had responded
by merely putting up his hand, as il t.
brush away fly. and then, with al
amount OF quiet dignity that surprised
every one, he, too, walked down tn,
steps. picked his way SO as not to treat
upon the flowers that strewed til,
chancel, and SO through the church
yard, with its amazed crowds, to tn,
! village inn.
| Many hostile demons trations met an,
followed him. but to the threats of tn
enraged Hodge, ay, and even to thei
squared fists, he opposed an unruffiet
calm; nor. indeed, did it leave him whe
he found himself in his sweet-smellin
parlor with the old hat and gloves O.
the table that half an hour ago he ha
likened to the bachelors skin he wa
casting.
lie sat down, and his thoughts flew t
his chambers and his well-read book.
his obedient kings and queens an
pawns, to the quiet hours of meditatio