position we are in. It is very trying to be made a
spectacle of before the world, but, of course, your mar-
riage with this Mr. Allen must be broken off at once."
250 ARISTOCRACY.
Lady Edith's decided reply is stopped by the entrance
of the butler :
" If you please, my lord," he says, addressing
Freddy. " Lord Beyndour has gone down to Twick-
enham on his coach, and won't be back till to-night."
" Confound it ! " says Freddy. " I forgot the meet.
Is Lord Oaktorrington in?"
" No, my lord."
As soon as the butler withdraws, Lady Edith laughs
outright.
"What are you laughing at?" demands Freddy,
with a savage voice and threatening action.
"At the opinion that blackguard, that scoundrel,
up-stairs would have of you, if he knew how frightened
you were of him."
" I don't care tuppence what he thinks."
" Evidently, or you would have at least offered to
pay him wfiat you owe him. Perhaps you had better
now. He may need it."
Freddy does not answer, and the marchioness affects
not to hear.
" Luncheon's on the table," announces the butler.
" What are we to do ? " says Lady Oaktorrington.
" I suppose we must ask him. It really won't signify.'
" Not with me, you don't," says Freddy. " I shall
go and have luncheon at my club."
" He's not likely to fetch his knife or pistol to the
table with him, is he?" asks Lady Oaktorrington, in
innocent alarm. " Because if "
Lady Edith laughs out again, and Freddy grinds
his teeth.
A footman appears at the door with a letter. He
passes it to the butler, who hands it to Freddy.
ARISTOCRACY.
251
" What's this ? another letter from Fairfield. More
about this this " he tears the letter open and reads :
"My lord:
" We have this moment received the inclosed cable dis-
patch from the J3ritish Consul at San Francisco, and
hasten to send it and its What's this ? its welcome
intelligence to you. Where's the inclosure ? Here
it is :
" Rumors false. Allen has daubled his fortune"
" By Jove ! What an escape ! " He throws the
papers to his mother, and sinks into an arm-chair.
Then he jumps up quickly again. " What must he
think being kept alone so long ? What must the serv-
ants think?" he whispers to his mother. "I must
go up and apologize at once."
" Hadn't you better send for Beyndour ? " is on
the tip of Lady Edith's tongue, but she refrains. All
her ill feeling vanishes before the happiness which
comes to her in the thought not only that her marriage
can now be one of peace, but that Allen's position is
reinstated in the eyes of the world.
"I wish he knew how I stood up for him," she
thinks. " But it does not matter, now."
" Come, Edith, let's make it up," Freddy says,
stopping on his way to the door to kiss her cheek.
" I've been in a beastly temper, and didn't mean what
I said."
" Stay a minute, dear," Lady Oaktorrington says,
in an undertone, putting her hand on Freddy's arm.
Then aloud to no one in particular, though her eyes
regard and her words are intended for the butler and
footmen who stand in the hall : " Mr. Allen, did you
say ? Is he here ? Oh, dear me yes. I had quite
252
ARISTOCRACY.
forgotten him, poor fellow. I shall go myself and
fetch him down. I am quite ashamed of what he
must think."
" I should have been here earlier," Allen says with
an apologetic glance at Lady Edith as he seats him-
self at the luncheon-table ; " but I have been detained
by a cablegram from my father which has been dodg-
ing me backward and forward, between my bankers in
the city and the Metropole all the morning. I only
got it ten minutes ago that is, ten minutes before I
came here," he adds with a smile.
" Nothing unpleasant, I hope," suggests Lady Oak-
torrington, while a shade crosses her face. What if
the rumors are true after all ? Or, worse still, what if
his father forbids the marriage now that he is so rich?
Are her torments never to cease !
" No not very," Allen answers, with a slight
twinkle in his eye, as he hands the telegram to Lady
Edith :
" Read it, please."
Prepared for any new misfortune which the omi-
nous brown paper may have in store for her, Lady Oak-
torrington sits with clasped hands before her, while
Freddy tries to look as unconcerned as he can. Not
without some misgivings herself Lady Edith unfolds
the telegram and reads :
" You can double the settlement, and draw on me for
five thousand dollars for a present."
" So very good of him ! " exclaims the marchion-
ess, with a radiant smile, as soon as she gets her
breath. " What a very charming person your father
must be, Mr. Allen ! "
" That's the proper sort of a guv'nor ! " shouts
ARISTOCRACY.
253
Freddy, in high glee, as he adds to himself, "we cer-
tainly shan't have to give her anything now."
"Another small wedding at St. Peter's, Eaton
Square," says the many readers of the " Court Jour-
nal," as six weeks later they scan the "Marriages in
High Life," and immediately fall to reading the ac-
count of which the following is a full, true, and cor-
rect copy :
" On Thursday, by special license, at St. Peter's,
Eaton Square, Lady Edith Vesey, second daughter of
the Marquis and Marchioness of Oaktorrington, was
married to Mr. Philip Allen of San Francisco, U. S.
" Long before the hour named for the ceremony
three o'clock a large and distinguished congregation
of the relatives and friends of Lord and Lady Oaktor-
rington assembled in the church to witness the solem-
nization of the marriage rites. At three o'clock pre-
cisely the bridegroom arrived, accompanied by his best
man, Mr. Sanford Van Vleet, of New York, and took
his position at the chancel screen gate. Almost imme-
diately afterward the bride with her father, attended
by six bridesmaids and preceded by the choir singing,
'The voice that breathed o'er Eden,' walked up the
central aisle to the altar-rails, and the service be-
gan. The bride was given away by her father. The
ceremony, which was choral, was performed by the
Lord Bishop of Hertford, assisted by the Very Rev.
Lord Basil Herbert, Dean of St. Boniface and the
Hon. and Rev. Harold Trefusis, Rector of Ashwyn-
wick.
" The bridesmaids were Lady Mary and Lady Maud
Vesey (sisters of the bride), Lady Hilda Willoughby,
254
ARISTOCRACY.
Lady Ethel Willoughby and Lady Mabel Talbot (cous-
ins of the bride) and the Hon. Beatrix Fitzhardinge.
They were dressed in short frocks of pink cashmere,
with shoes, stockings, and bonnets to match, and each
wore a gold medallion locket with the monogram V
and A in brilliants, the gift of the bridegroom, and
carried bouquets, also his gift. The bride was dressed
in white satin profusely embroidered with seed pearls,
and trimmed with old family lace lent by the Marchion-
ess of Oaktorrington and the Duchess of Kensington
for the occasion. She wore a tulle veil fastened with
three diamond stars, the gift of the bridegroom's
father.
"After the ceremony, the bridal party adjourned to
the vestry where the marriage registry was signed, and
then drove to Lord Oaktorrington's residence in Eaton
Square where a magnificent wedding breakfast was
served, by Messrs. Pirrini and D'Olier of South Aud-
ley Street. Only a few of the immediate relatives and
intimate friends of the bride's parents were invited to
the breakfast. At half past four, Mr. and Lady Edith
Allen departed amid a shower of rice for St. Pancreas
station, en route for Liverpool, from which port they
sailed for New York on Saturday in the Cunard
steamer ' Umbria.'
" The wedding-cake was supplied by Messrs. Izzard,
of Bond Street, and the bridesmaids' frocks were
made by Mile. Eugenie Baisse of Regent Circus.
" The wedding presents were both numerous and
costly, and among many others included the fol-
lowing :
" An India shawl, a copy of ' Some More Leaves
from my Diary in the Highlands ' and her photo-
ARISTOCRACY.
255
graph (laughing) with autograph, from her Majesty the
Queen ; a turquoise and gold bracelet from the Prince
and Princess of Wales ; a pair of silver muffineers from
the Marquis of Salisbury ; a silver-mounted riding-
whip from the Duke of Harborough ; a silver-mounted
dressing- and traveling-bag from the Marquis of Oak-
torrington ; a point-lace handkerchief and ivory-han-
dled umbrella from the Marchioness of Oaktorrington ;
a carriage-clock from Viscount Beyndour ; a silver-
gilt paper-knife from Lord Frederick Vesey ; a silver-
gilt inkstand from Lord Bertis Vesey ; a brass-mounted
plush blotting-book and envelope-case from Lord Cecil
and Lady Maud Vesey ; a tea-cosy from Lady Mary
Vesey ; a pair of silver napkin-rings from the Duchess
of Kensington ; an oxydized silver paper-weight from
the Duke of Kensington; a pair of oxydized silver
spill-holders from the Ladies Hilda and Ethel Wil-
loughby ; a hand-painted photograph-frame from Lady
Mabel Talbot ; a pair of antique brass snuffers from
the Hon. Beatrix Fitzhardinge ; a silver-topped smell-
ing-bottle from Lady Henry Tollemache ; a China
plaque from Lord and Lady Bouverie ; a carved oak
wall-bracket from the Hon. John Bouverie ; a hand-
painted fan from the Hon. Emily Bouverie ; a robe-de-
nuit case from the Hon. Augusta Bouverie; Tenny-
son's poems from the Hon. Montague Vereker ; a
diamond necklace and three diamond stars from Mr.
Samuel Allen (father of the bridegroom) ; a diamond
and sapphire bracelet, diamond locket, and solitaire
diamond earrings from the bridegroom ; a set of gold
and diamond bangles from Mr. Sanford Van Vleet ;
a diamond and ruby gypsy ring from Mrs. Leonard
P. Norris ; opal and diamond bracelet from General
2 5 6
ARISTOCRACY.
Simon Jackson ; a complete set of household silver
from Senator James D. Smith ; a half-hunter keyless
lady's repeater, with monogram and crest on the back
in brilliants from Colonel Livingston, United States
Army ; a hall-clock and aneroid combined from the
servants at Ashwynwick and Eton Square ; a silver
tea-service from the tenants of the Ashwynwick es-
tates ; a set of silver side-dishes from the tenants of
the Campsottin estates ; and a set of silver teaspoons
from the tenants of the Tewtorlock estates."
As the steamer " Umbria " drops slowly down the
Mersey, crosses the bar, and then with full speed heads
down channel, Philip Allen and his bride stand on the
hurricane deck and watch the fast-receding shores of
England.
"It all seems like a happy dream," Allen says,
" from which I fear every minute to awake."
" And I shall not feel quite secure," Edith replies,
"until we pass Queenstown. Father or mother or
Freddy may be there to take me back again."
" They can't do that now, dear. They couldn't if
they would. No earthly power can take you from me,
now."
" Are you quite sure ? "
" Quite."
" Then I am perfectly happy," and she nestles her
face against his shoulder.
As the good ship rounds Holyhead, and the bold
and rocky Anglesean promontory gradually shuts
out from view the low line of British coast beyond,
ARISTOCRACY.
257
Allen, in the silence of his heart, speaks his valedic-
tory :
" Farewell, O great and glorious land ! on the vast
and far-reaching dominions of whose sovereign the
sun never sets ; on whose national escutcheon history
has left no stain ; whose victorious flag has never
known defeat ; whose record among the nations of the
earth is one long unbroken story of integrity, morality,
courage, religion, civilization, liberty, and progress ;
whose watchwords are magnanimity to the weak and
helpless and resistance to the defiant and strong ;
whose guiding star is freedom, farewell ! And, O
grand and mighty kingdom, where rank means worth
and nobility merit, to whom do you owe all your great-
ness, all you have done, achieved, gained, won, be-
come, and are to-day, in science, literature, art, com-
merce, manufactures, and trade, either in peace or in
war your lords or your commons, your people or
your aristocracy ? "
17
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