CHAPTER XXXV.

The Wedding.

The night that Lizzie Stevens arrived in Philadelphia was the one decided
upon for the marriage of Emily Garie and Charles Ellis; and whilst she was
wandering so lonely through the streets of one part of the city, a scene of
mirth and gaiety was transpiring in another, some of the actors in which
would be made more happy by events that would be productive of great sorrow
to her.

Throughout that day bustle and confusion had reigned supreme in the house
of Mr. Walters. Caddy, who had been there since the break of day, had taken
the domestic reins entirely from the hands of the mistress of the mansion,
and usurped command herself. Quiet Esther was well satisfied to yield her
full control of the domestic arrangements for the festivities, and Caddy
was nothing loath to assume them.

She entered upon the discharge of her self-imposed duties with such ardour
as to leave no doubt upon the minds of the parties most interested but that
they would be thoroughly performed, and with an alacrity too that
positively appalled quiet Esther's easy-going servants.

Great doubts had been expressed as to whether Caddy could successfully
sustain the combined characters of _chef de cuisine_ and bridesmaid, and a
failure had been prophesied. She therefore felt it incumbent upon her to
prove these prognostications unfounded, and demonstrate the practicability
of the undertaking. On the whole, she went to work with energy, and seemed
determined to establish the fact that her abilities were greatly
underrated, and that a woman could accomplish more than one thing at a
time when she set about it.

The feelings of all such persons about the establishment of Mr. Walters as
were "constitutionally tired" received that day divers serious shocks at
the hands of Miss Caddy--who seemed endowed with a singular faculty which
enabled her to discover just what people did not want to do, and of setting
them at it immediately.

For instance, Jane, the fat girl, hated going upstairs excessively. Caddy
employed her in bringing down glass and china from a third-story pantry;
and, moreover, only permitted her to bring a small quantity at a time,
which rendered a number of trips strictly necessary, to the great
aggravation and serious discomfort of the fat girl in question.

On the other hand, Julia, the slim chambermaid, who would have been
delighted with such employment, and who would have undoubtedly refreshed
hers