non, and the two others royal chaplains; but there was only to be
the Vicar of the parish at Matching. And indeed there were no guests
in the house except the two bridesmaids and Mr. and Mrs. Finn. As to
Mrs. Finn, Mary had made a request, and then the Duke had suggested
that the husband should be asked to accompany his wife.

It was very pretty. The church itself is pretty, standing in
the park, close to the ruins of the old Priory, not above three
hundred yards from the house. And they all walked, taking the broad
pathway through the ruins, going under that figure of Sir Guy which
Silverbridge had pointed out to Isabel when they had been whispering
there together. The Duke led the way with his girl upon his arm.
The two bridesmaids followed. Then Silverbridge and his wife, with
Phineas and his wife. Gerald and the bridegroom accompanied them,
belonging as it were to the same party! It was very rustic;--almost
improper! "This is altogether wrong, you know," said Gerald. "You
should appear coming from some other part of the world, as if you
were almost unexpected. You ought not to have been in the house at
all, and certainly should have gone under some disguise."

There had been rich presents too on this occasion, but they were
shown to none except to Mrs. Finn and the bridesmaids,--and perhaps
to the favoured servants in the house. At any rate there was nothing
said of them in the newspapers. One present there was,--given not to
the bride but to the bridegroom,--which he showed to no one except to
her. This came to him only on the morning of his marriage, and the
envelope containing it bore the postmark of Sedbergh. He knew the
handwriting well before he opened the parcel. It contained a small
signet-ring with his crest, and with it there were but a few words
written on a scrap of paper. "I pray that you may be happy. This was
to have been given to you long ago, but I kept it back because of
that decision." He showed the ring to Mary and told her it had come
from Lady Mabel;--but the scrap of paper no one saw but himself.

Perhaps the matter most remarkable in the wedding was the hilarity of
the Duke. One who did not know him well might have said that he was a
man with few cares, and who now took special joy in the happiness of
his children,--who was thoroughly contented to see them marry after
their own hearts. And yet, as he stood there on the altar-steps
giving his daughter to that new son and looking first at his