第87章

THE MARRIAGE.

The engagement was made in October, and the marriage took place in the latter part of November.When Lopez pressed for an early day,--which he did very strongly,--Emily raised no difficulties in the way of his wishes.The father, foolishly enough, would at first have postponed it, and made himself so unpleasant to Lopez by his manner of doing this, that the bride was driven to take her lover's part.As the thing was to be done, what was to be gained by the delay? It could not be made a joy to him; nor, looking at the matter as he looked at it, could he make a joy even of her presence during the few intervening weeks.Lopez proposed to take his bride into Italy for the winter months, and to stay there at any rate through December and January, alleging that he must be back in town by the beginning of February;--and this was taken as a fair plea for hastening the marriage.

When the matter was settled, he went back to Gatherum Castle, as he had arranged to do with the Duchess and managed to interest her Grace in all his proceedings.She promised that she would call on his bride in town, and even went so far as to send her a costly wedding present.'You are sure she has got money?' said the Duchess.

'I am not sure of anything,' said Lopez,--'except this, that Ido not mean to ask a single question about it.If he says nothing to me about money, I certainly shall say nothing to him.

My feeling is this, Duchess, that I am not marrying Miss Wharton for her money.The money, if there be any, has had nothing to do with it.But of course it will be a pleasure added if it be there.' The Duchess complimented him, and told him that this was exactly as it should be.

But there was some delay as to the seat of Silverbridge.Mr Grey's departure for Persia had been postponed,--the Duchess thought only for a month or six weeks.The Duke, however, was of the opinion that Mr Grey should not vacate his seat till the day of his going was at any rate fixed.The Duke, moreover, had not made any promise of supporting his wife's favourite.'Don't set your heart upon it too much, Mr Lopez,' the Duchess had said;'but you may be sure I will not forget you.' Then it had been settled between them that the marriage should not be postponed, or the promised trip to Italy abandoned, because of the probable vacancy at Silverbridge.Should the vacancy occur during his absence, and should the Duke consent, he could return at once.

All this occurred in the last week or two before his marriage.

There were various little incidents which did not tend to make the happiness of Emily Wharton complete.She wrote to her cousin Mary Wharton, and also to Lady Wharton;--and her father wrote to Sir Alured; but the folk at Wharton Hall did not give their adherence.Old Mrs Fletcher was still there, but John Fletcher had gone home to Longbarns.The obduracy of the Whartons might probably be owing to these two accidents.Mrs Fletcher declared aloud, as soon as the tidings reached her, that she never wished to see or hear anything more of Emily Wharton.'She must be a girl,' said Mrs Fletcher, 'of an ingrained vulgar taste.' Sir Alured, whose letter from Mr Wharton had been very short, replied as shortly to his cousin.'Dear Abel,--We all hope that Emily will be happy, though of course we regret the marriage.' The father, though he had not himself written triumphantly, or even hopefully,--as fathers are wont to write when their daughters are given away in marriage,--was wounded by the curtness and unkindness of the baronet's reply, and at the moment declared to himself that he would never go to Hertfordshire any more.But on the following day there came a worse blow than Sir Alured's single line.Emily, not in the least doubting but that her request would be received with the usual ready assent, had asked Mary Wharton to be one of the bridesmaids.It must be supposed that the answer to this was written, if not under the dictation, at any rate under the inspiration, of Mrs Fletcher.It was as follows:

DEAR EMILY, Of course we all wish you to be very happy in your marriage; but equally of course we are all disappointed.

We had taught ourselves to think you would have bound yourself closer with us down here, instead of separating yourself entirely from us.

Under all the circumstances mamma thinks it would not be wise for me to go up to London as one of your bridesmaids.

Your affectionate cousin MARY WHARTON

This letter made poor Emily very angry for a day or two.'It is as unreasonable as it is ill-natured,' she said to her brother.

'What else could you expect from a stiff-necked, prejudiced set of provincial ignoramuses?'

'What Mary says is not true.She did not think I was going to bind myself closer with them, as she calls it.I have been quite open with her, and have always told her that I could not be Arthur Fletcher's wife.'

'Why on earth should you marry to please them?'

'Because they don't know Ferdinand and are determined to insult him.It is an insult never to mention even his name.And to refuse to come to my marriage! The world is wide and there is room for us and them; but it makes me unhappy,--very unhappy,--that I should have to break with them.' And then tears came into her eyes.It was intended, no doubt, to be a complete breach, for not a single wedding present was sent from Wharton Hall to the bride.But from Longbarns,--from John Fletcher himself,--there did come an elaborate coffee-pot, which, in spite of its inutility and ugliness, was very valuable to Emily.

But there was one other of her old Hertfordshire friends who received the tidings of her marriage without quarrelling with her.She herself had written to her old lover.

MY DEAR ARTHUR, There has been so much true friendship and affection between us that I do not like that you should hear from anyone by myself the news that I am to be married to Mr Lopez.We are to be married on the 28th November,--this day month.

Yours affectionately, EMILY WHARTON

To this she received a very short reply.

DEAR EMILY, I am as I always have been.

Yours, A.F.