New-York tribune., 1896-08-30

snealer and saw n tall man in the prime OF Ire,
dressed In ecclesiastical habit or Dihok i cIo,,,'
He was clean -shaven and his regular but enact
ated features wore an air of peculiar sanctity.
A painful silence had fallen upon the consle-
CATION and all eyes were fxed on me , ineLuusr. el
He spoke again: Il forbid you to proceed TOT
this man is already married" The minister VINO
was performing the ceremony looked IN aInaIe
ment from Santal TO the speaker. ana rom me
speaker to Santal. The latter had SAID notnihg,
but the bride burst into tears, ana her 'a'he'
stamped ang1ly on the floor
Let us have a truce to this fooling; the man
is md: let him be led out Of the church' said
Mr.. Willoughby 40
Santal was pale and silent, but yet showeo ~
surprise. and the clergyman put an emu ~ .,'e %
by asking the contracting parties anu the tI,
objector to step aside for moment ,o ~. III
yestry so that the matter might be more quie''y
discussed. When they had entered the Ves.,S
the clergyman asked the stranger "hat Was ,'ie
reason for mis- conduct, ana what were '"' "'o
cations he made. . ,,, 4,
Il allege" he said. that on the -4tn uay ol
June in the year 1916. married this man In the
chapel at Bejant Place. with all the rites ol
Holy Church. to Cecilia. daughter TO the late
Roger Bejant. esq. and that she Is stili mis- law
ful wife" A shock Of surprise and alarm ran
through all the listeners except Sartai' anu
Mr. Wioughby broke In:
You are a rogue. and q vagabond and a we
traducer What proofs do you bring? What is
your name|
swered but Theodore Brady. servant OF the
Society Of Jesus and Vlcar-Apostolic OF HIS Hon-
noes thp POpe and now reside Win MI rcruiOi'
OF Aralston in Warwckshire. ! have no PROOFS 10
offar hut none are needed. II Is for this gente-
man" pointing TO Santal. ITO deny what say,
and if he IS content to deny IT, then am cohtent
to he esteemed indeed the traducer whch you car
mo +" This turned the attention Of all TO Santal
They expected that he would nave given All ii,-
mediate and indignant denial. but ne stood WIN
his head bowed down and uttered not "oiu'
The bride touched his arm and turned her race
appeangy TO his Anthony. she SAID, SPEAK
to me: tell me this is false. There was a Ittie
pause and then Santal raised his nead ana s sali.
speaking in a profound silence: l cannon ueny
II for all that this gentleman has said Is true.
Then followed scene or much eXclternsn,' anu
the party which had so joyousiy assernpied p,1ne %
nm amid mingled tears and Indignation. l ne
brides father after overwhelming Santal with re-
proaches. took his daughter by the arm ana l hur-
ried her away refusing 10 allow her 10 ques'Ioi
her lover further or to see him IN private, as she
had desired The accused himself seemed as one
dazed Except the one short admission. ne mao
uttered no word at all. and had accepted the
abuse which Mr.. Willoughby had cast at MN
without any effort at Justification When the as
sembly had dispersed, he called FOR ms sauuie
horse which stood by waiting. mounted anu
rode away on the road TO London. the stranger
who had caused the catastrophe disappeared dur
ing the general confusion that followed IT, anu
when Mr. Willoughby sent to inquire TOT nm III ia
order TO gain a more precise kno"leoee Oh vi
Santal's prior marriage, ne was nowhere I" Nv
found. ,
From what afterward transpired- Mr. SANTA
himself seemed to have been entirely crushed Dy
its and his home. nor did he ever again see ms
seat Of Minsteracres. He took away with MN,
only one servant the same man VINO nad at'Tfueu
him on his Journey from OXFORD elght years pe-
fore It was to Wnterbourne that he now re-
paired and took up his quarters at the BeJant
Arms where he hired permanent lodgings.
About two months after the scene at the cnurcn
he received a letter from Mr.. Woughby couched
In conciliatory terms. and informing him that tne
writer prepared entirely TO forget tne pas
and to accept Mr. Santa as his son ~ law on
receiving from him assurance that there was
no truth in the odious charge which mad peen
brought against him. Mr.. Willoughby was CON
yinced, the letter said, that the person VINO mao
interrupted the marriage was an mpostor' ne
had caused the fullest inquiries to be made ana
had referred the matter to the chlet authorltles
Of the Roman Catholic Church or England. me!
agreed that there was in their orders priest OF.
the name Of Theodore Brady, and that. go far
from the man being the present Vicar Apostolic
he had mpudently assumed the style or FORMER
vicar. who had suffered martyrdom under queen
Elizabeth
The address which he had given also proved
IN no false for the Fermor family with whom he
had represented himself To be living al Aralston
had moved from that seat many years ago. and
the house itself was so completely thlng or the
past that even It's site could no longer be ldenti-
fed Mr. Willoughby had also discovered that
the chapel at Bejant Place. where the marriage
was alleged to have taken place was ruin ana
that the Bejants themselves were extinct. Thls
being So the writer believed the whole story 10
be false. and was anxious to accept MT Santal 5
assurance to that effect. There would have been
he added room at any tne IOr even tne
slightest suspicion had not color been lent to the
accusation by Mr.. Santars own unfortunate ad-
mission al admission which he was now CON
vinced must be attributed solely To the sudden
shock having bewildered him. His daughter had
been ailng since the rupture. and he ear
nestly begged that for her sake. as much as his
own Mr.. Santal would Give the assurance that
he sought. and in this case their marriage cOud
at once be celebrated
The perusal Of this letter occasoned Mr. Santal
much pain. and his sorrow was immeasuraDly IN
kf,.h fnnl sod
Willoughhy In which she assured him in the
warmest terms OF her unaltered love and CONN
dence He wrote to Mr.. Willoughby IN reply.
thanking him for his courtesy but regrettlng that
II was not In his power 10 give the assurance
asked for as the priests statements We're in sub
stance rue. He expressed the greatest remorse
that he should he the cause Of so much suffering
to Mr. Willoughbys family. but begged them to
believes that the lacts if fully understood would
show him to be perhaps less guilty than now ap-
peared. He could not explain further. but Mr.
Wioughby would understand that he was quite
ready 10 afford the only satisfaction which gen
tlaman could offer. either TO Mr.. Willoughby him
self or TO any other person nominated by him. so
the matter unhappily ended. and neither side
ever held any further communication with the
other.
Two years elapsed. and Mr.. Santal still
the Beiant Arms. but sadly changed. His once
robust health had completely given way. and his
state was such to cause the greatest anxiety To
those few friends who saw him from time to time.
He felt most keenly the terrible stain which rest
ed upon his honor and the breaking off Of his
marriage seemed to have entirely crushed his
spirits He grew thin and weak. and would sit the
greater part Of the day in a llstless attitude with
his hands before him If he went out. il was gen
orally only to visit the ruins OF Bejant Place.
where. If report spoke truly, he not infrequently
passed the entire night: indeed his chief solace
consisted in haunting that spot. The image Of
Cecilia Bejant ever present with him. and
grew al length so beloved that he looked forward
with longing To his end. believing that in death
he would be permitted to rejOin his lost bride.
His eccentric habits gained him among the lower
classes the reputation of being harmless mad
man while those of his own rank avoided all con-
tact with him as about whom hung some dis
honorable mystery.
In June Of the third year OF his residence at
Winterborne he fell ILL., 4 severe cold. contracted.
was said. by a night spent I'm the ruined chapel
of Beiant Place. took such effect upon a frame
already reduced weakness that the doc