Indian Princess, the
Begum of Runjetpoora.

With such zeal and good will did the lawyers on both sides work, that in
less than three months from the death of Sir Ralph Coleman, Edith was in
possession of Vellenaux, and Arthur had been recognized and installed as
Earl of Castlemere, and master of Carlton Abbey, that being the name of
the estate in Nottinghamshire, where the old Earl died.

Having thus succeeded to the title and estates of his forefathers,
Arthur quitted his rooms in Albermarle Street, and located himself at
his mansion in St. James' Square, which, although undergoing extensive
alterations and decorations, had still a sufficient number of apartments
in thorough repair and handsomely enough furnished, to satisfy the
taste of a more fastidious person than our ex-Light Dragoon. It was
really astonishing the number of visitors he had to receive, and cards
and notes of invitation were showered upon him from people whose very
existence he had previously never heard of, connections by marriage of
the past generation crowded upon him, mothers with marriageable
daughters invited him to their assemblies, young men of his own order
sought to engage him in the various pursuits considered indispensable
among those by whom he now found himself surrounded. When it became
generally known that the new Earl was, beyond the possibility of a
doubt, engaged to be married, the connections just mentioned thought it
right and proper to recognize in Edith Effingham the future Countess of
Castlemere; and, on learning that she was the niece of a baronet, and
heiress, in her own right, to twenty thousand a year, she was sought
after and made much of by the aristocratic relatives of her affianced
husband, for the privilege of entering, as honoured guests, such places
as Vellenaux and Carlton Abbey was not to be lost for the want of a
little tact and polite attention to the bride elect, and so Edith's
circle of female friends enlarged rapidly, and it was from among these
that she selected the eight young beauties who were to act as
bridesmaids on her marriage day, now fast approaching.

The Bishop of Exeter, who had been well acquainted with Arthur's father,
offered his services on the interesting occasion, which were gladly
accepted. Exactly at 11 a.m., the family carriage of the Bartons,
containing Edith, Pauline Barton, and three of the bridesmaids, left
Berkly Square. In a second were seated the other five ladies acting in
that