, had taken the soft,
lily-white hand of his lovely betrothed, and was talking to her in
words from his heart's heart.

"I should have told thee all this last evening if thou couldst have
waited but one instant longer. I was to have accompanied my father and
thy guardian here; but I dreaded so much to see my affianced
bride--not dreaming until last evening that my beloved and betrothed
were one and the same--that my beautiful dream was a more beautiful
reality. If I had come and found the young Countess of Fernheath one
that I could not have loved, I should certainly have moved earth and
heaven but that I would have had the contract, made by our goodly
sires, annulled--or I would have drowned or shot myself. Don't
shudder, sweetest, I shall do neither now, unless I am shot by the
lightning of your bright eyes, and drowned in the bliss--but, dearest,
I love you too dearly to speak nonsense to thee--even love nonsense.
Strange, was it not, darling, that I should not have recognized you?
It has been many a long year since I saw you a little rosy, romping,
fairy thing of only a few bright summers. We have had troublous times
since then; war and bloodshed that would--"

"Pardon me, most beautiful cousin, my long laughter hath been rude;
but, indeed, thy mistake was most droll. There, sweet cousin, I have
done! Thy blushes, however, are exceedingly becoming thy fair face. So
thou and my goodly son hast met before--is it not so? And he is not
the laggard in love I unjustly deemed him. And now I suppose the best
thing for me to do is to take myself off to another world, and resign
my kingdom and crown in this for one in the--however, we will arrange
all that after the wedding. Let us, meantime, enjoy the present. Ah!
here comes thy good uncle with a cloudy brow; something has gone wrong
with him--we must have no gloom to-day. And here also comes thundering
down the avenue all the goodly old carriages containing our expected
kinsfolk."

And here also comes,

CHAPTER THE LAST,

Which I know will delight you, dearest reader, as it containeth the
wedding; but most especially will it delight you because it _is_ the
last. The wedding was of course a splendid one, and better still, a
joyous one. Little Dame Hildreth would let no one but herself fasten
so much as a bridal ornament on her beautiful young foster-child. It
would be hard saying which moved fastest on the important day, her
hands or her tongue.

"Just to think!"