ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, ye do now confess it!' In that painful prayer sweat-drops had stood upon my brow, accents wild and piteous had burst from my lips. For then had conscience sought to regain her sway; then had she whispered terrible thoughts to me of the solemn ceremony my presence would desecrate; then had she repeated to me the language I should have to pronounce kneeling at the sacred shrine which nothing impure or wrong should approach unless with remorse, unless with sorrow, unless with heart-felt appeals for mercy and deepest proofs of contrition.

It was a despairing prayer; my heart knew it to be fruitless. Yet when I rose I felt calmer; perhaps my tears had eased my passion.

Mrs. Shaw came to call me at seven; she found me in a quiet sleep. Rising, I searched my face eagerly and rejoiced to find in it no sign of tribulation. The strong wish to feel happy made me so. My heart recoiled from the poor tribute to my lover which a sorrowful

face would offer. I attired myself plainly and simply; my costume was a blue silk dress, a tight-fitting jacket, with long hanging sleeves, according to the fashion of those times; a tulle bonnet. Fully equipped, I repaired to the parlour, and though without appetite, ate a little breakfast as a provision for my strength, which I felt would be severely tested.

It had been arranged that I should meet Dr. Monck at the door of the church at eight o'clock. I had told him that I did not like walking there by myself; I would rather that he accompanied me.

"Your arm will give me confidence, Frank; your presence will give me courage,' I said.. 'I am wretchedly timid, and if I am left to myself, I may not have the fortitude to go all the way. Something may frighten me, and the end of it will be, I shall run back home and lock myself away.'

He had laughed at my apprehensions; begged me to tell him what formidable object I was likely to encounter to terrify me; and

finding I could make no answer, gravely pointed out the uselessness of our provoking comment by being seen together at that hour in the morning.

There I sat then, waiting to hear the quarter to eight strike. Strange, dream-like, it seemed to be sitting there-a bride waiting to be married. Was it all real? was it not some cozenage of the brain which ecstasy is very cunning in? In the mood then upon me, I verily believe I could have forced my mind to look upon the whole thing as some very serious practical joke of my fancy. I had dreamt a dream, vivid, realistic as a modern stage-play. I had dreamt that Dr. Monck had proposed to me, that I had accepted him, that he had told me we should be married at once. Strongly impressed with the truth of this dream, I had risen; urged by my promise I had dressed myself, and now sat waiting for that which was never likely to happen. The garb I wore could not disillusion me: the dress was indeed new; but this attire was a mere

dream-accessory to the weird, strange, little fiction-drama I was now acting in.

Mrs. Shaw's entrance did not wholly bring me to my senses. In her new cap specially donned for the occasion, her spotless apron and decent dress, she might have been as phantasmal as every other circumstance. I stared at her as she entered.

'Why, miss,' she cried, 'you look as startled as if you saw a ghost.'

'I feel like a ghost,' I answered; 'I can't believe that I am alive. Everything is so strange, so vague, so uncanny. Is it all true, Mrs. Shaw? am I really to be married?'

To this absurd question practical Mrs. Shaw answered by leaving the room, and speedily reappearing with a wine-glass which she filled.

'Drink that,' she said, and then you'll know it's all true.'

I needed the draught indeed. I do not doubt, had I persevered in the delirious mood I had suffered myself to sink into, that it would

have either ended in a fainting fit or an attack of hysterics.

As I handed her back the glass I heard the clock strike the quarter. I started to my feet. 'I must be going,' I exclaimed, paling in spite of my efforts to collect my energies. come with me, Mrs. Shaw.'

Do

She readily complied. In a few moments she was at my side shawled and bonneted. We passed out, got into the street, and walked in the direction of the church.

If you would like to know my thoughts just then, I do not think I can gratify you. I might as well attempt to give names to the various hues or rather combinations of hues that shine in the revolving kaleidoscope, as to define the feelings which filled and faded in my mind.

Under the most favourable circumstances of love, beauty, and opulence, a bride on her way to be married is a being not quite qualified to think calmly and logically. She need not be nervous to be agitated. She may alight from her carriage with the same ease as she would