e interest could it be to play
him a trick of this dreadful kind?

And then came the little rustle and thrill of the arriving train. And
something white came up, a succession of whitenesses streaming one after
the other, with no sound but the delicate rustle, that soft touch upon
the air that might almost have been wings. They stood together, both but
half conscious of what was going on round them: Chatty, sweetly wrapped
in a maze of soft-coming fancies of wonder and pleasure and awe and
regret; while he, touched to the heart by her presence, yet only half
conscious of it, went through the whole in a kind of trance, mingling
the words spoken with interlinings of unspeakable dumb reasonings,
self-assurances, self-exhortations. Nobody knew anything about all this.
The ceremony went on, just as such ceremonies go on every day in the
year. The priest said the words and paused while they were repeated;
by one voice firmly and strongly, by the other low and unassured, yet
clear. And then there was the flutter of tension relieved, the gathering
round of the little crowd, the little procession to the vestry, where
everything was signed, the kissings and good wishes. Dick had no mother,
but his elder sister was there, who kissed him in her place, and his
younger sister, who was a bridesmaid, and hung about Chatty with all a
girl's enthusiasm. What could be more simple, more natural and true?
There was no shadow there of any dread, but everything happy, honest,
pure. He recovered his soul a little in the midst of that group; though
when Geoff with his little sharp face, in which there always seemed more
knowledge than belonged to his age, caught his eye, a slight shiver ran
over him. He felt as if Geoff knew all about it; and might, for anything
he could tell, have some horrible secret to bring forth.

And then they set out again, the husband with his wife on his arm, to
go away. The touch of Chatty's hand on his arm seemed to restore his
confidence. She was his, in spite of all that Fate could do--in spite of
everything, he thought. They walked together, he feeling more and more
the pride and triumph of the moment, she moving softly, still in her
dream, yet beginning too to feel the reality, past the altar where
they had knelt a little while before, going down the aisle, facing the
spectators who still lingered well pleased to see the bride. And then in
a moment the blow fell. Some one seemed to rise up before them, out of
the