n that other moment when she begins to act upon the finest of these
things as clothes to be packed up, she becomes a wife. When this
subject was discussed Griselda displayed no lack of a becoming
interest. She went to work steadily, slowly, and almost with
solemnity, as though the business in hand were one which it would be
wicked to treat with impatience. She even struck her mother with awe
by the grandeur of her ideas and the depth of her theories. Nor let
it be supposed that she rushed away at once to the consideration of
the great fabric which was to be the ultimate sign and mark of her
status, the quintessence of her briding, the outer veil, as it were,
of the tabernacle--namely, her wedding-dress. As a great poet works
himself up by degrees to that inspiration which is necessary for
the grand turning-point of his epic, so did she slowly approach the
hallowed ground on which she would sit, with her ministers around
her, when about to discuss the nature, the extent, the design, the
colouring, the structure, and the ornamentation of that momentous
piece of apparel. No; there was much indeed to be done before she
came to this; and as the poet, to whom I have already alluded, first
invokes his muse, and then brings his smaller events gradually out
upon his stage, so did Miss Grantly with sacred fervour ask her
mother's aid, and then prepare her list of all those articles
of underclothing which must be the substratum for the visible
magnificence of her _trousseau_. Money was no object. We all know
what that means; and frequently understand, when the words are used,
that a blaze of splendour is to be attained at the cheapest possible
price. But, in this instance, money was no object;--such an amount
of money, at least, as could by any possibility be spent on a lady's
clothes, independently of her jewels. With reference to diamonds and
such like, the archdeacon at once declared his intention of taking
the matter into his own hands--except in so far as Lord Dumbello,
or the Hartletop interest, might be pleased to participate in the
selection. Nor was Mrs. Grantly sorry for such a decision. She was
not an imprudent woman, and would have dreaded the responsibility of
trusting herself on such an occasion among the dangerous temptations
of a jeweller's shop. But as far as silks and satins went--in the
matter of French bonnets, muslims, velvets, hats, riding-habits,
artificial flowers, head-gilding, curious nettings, enamelled