that she
talked quite frankly to me, and in so doing supplied me with a clue
which ultimately opened up to me an entirely new field of inquiry.
We had been discussing Mr. Jeffrey and Miss Tuttle, when suddenly,
and with no apparent motive beyond the natural love of gossip which
was her weakness, she launched out into remarks about the bride.
The ceremony had been late; did I know it? A half-hour or
three-quarters past the time set for it. And why? Because Miss
Moore was not ready. She had chosen to array herself in the house
and had come early enough for the purpose; but she would not accept
any assistance, not even that of her maid, and of course she kept
every one waiting. "Oh, there was no more uneasy soul in the whole
party that morning than the bride!" Let other people remark upon
the high look in Cora Tuttle's face, or gossip about the anxious
manner of the bridegroom; she, the speaker, could tell things about
the bride which would go to show that she was not all right even
before that ominous death's-head reared itself into view at her
marriage festival. Why, the fact that she came downstairs and was
married without her bridal bouquet was enough. Had there not been
so much else to talk about, people would have talked about that.
But the big event had so effectually swallowed up the little that
only herself, and possibly two other ladies she might name, seemed
to retain any memory of the matter.

"What ladies?" I asked.

"Oh, it doesn't matter what ladies. Two of the very best sort. I
know they noticed it, because I heard them talking about it. We
were all standing in the upper hall and were all crowded into a
passage leading to the room where the bride was dressing. It was
before the alarm had gone around of what had been discovered in the
library, and we were all impatient enough for the appearance of the
bride, who, we had been told, intended to wear the old point in
which her great-grandmother was married. I have a weakness for old
point and I was determined to stand where I could see her come out,
even if I lost sight of the ceremony itself. But it would have been
tedious enough waiting in that close hall if the ladies behind me
had not kept up a conversation, which I, of course, pretended not
to hear. I remember it, every word, for it was my sole amusement
for half an hour. What was it? Oh, it was about that same bouquet,
which, by the way, I had the privilege of staring at all the time