performed in his private office a
little ceremony, at which, besides himself, were present only the bride
and groom and a witness who had come to him a half-hour before with a
scribbled line in pencil requesting his services. If Mr. Rimmon was
startled when he first read the request, the surprise had passed away.
The groom, it is true, was, when he appeared, decidedly under the
influence of liquor, and his insistence that the ceremony was to be kept
entirely secret had somewhat disturbed Mr. Rimmon for a moment. But he
remembered Mr. Plume's assurance that the bride was a great heiress in
the South, and knowing that Ferdy Wickersham was a man who rarely lost
his head,--a circumstance which the latter testified by handing him a
roll of greenbacks amounting to exactly one hundred dollars,--and the
bride being very pretty and shy, and manifestly most eager to be
married, he gave his word to keep the matter a secret until they should
authorize him to divulge it.

When the ceremony was over, the bride requested Mr. Rimmon to give her
her "marriage lines." This Mr. Rimmon promised to do; but as he would
have to fill out the blanks, which would take a little time, the bride
and groom, having signed the paper, took their departure without
waiting for the certificate, leaving Mr. Plume to bring it.

A day or two later a steamship of one of the less popular companies
sailing to a Continental port had among its passengers a gentleman and a
lady who, having secured their accommodations at the last moment, did
not appear on the passenger list.

It happened that they were unknown to any of the other passengers, and
as they were very exclusive, they made no acquaintances during the
voyage. If Mrs. Wagram, the name by which the lady was known on board,
had one regret, it was that Mr. Plume had failed to send her her
marriage certificate, as he had promised to do. Her husband, however,
made so light of it that it reassured her, and she was too much taken up
with her wedding-ring and new diamonds to think that anything else was
necessary.

CHAPTER XX

MRS. LANCASTER'S WIDOWHOOD

The first two years of her widowhood Alice Lancaster spent in
retirement. Even the busy tongue of Mrs. Nailor could find little to
criticise in the young widow. To be sure, that accomplished critic made
the most of this little, and disseminated her opinion that Alice's grief
for Mr. Lancaster could only be remorse for her indifference to him
during hi