"I thank you very much. I think I will have to trouble you with two commissions. First, to tell our friends in there that, under existing circumstances, there can be no reception at our house to-day."
"And, also, I must ask you to telegraph to St. Sebastian, as the woman advised, for further proof of her claim. Here is my pocketbook. Don't spare it in the cause. Could you spare an hour or two to come up to my house to-morrow?" inquired Mr. Force.
"I will take the time, and make it a point to be there."
"Come to dinner, if you please, sir. You know our hour," said Mrs. Force.
"Thank you, madam," replied the minister, without further committing himself.
Then the party took leave of their pastor, and went out by the back door to enter their carriage.
Abel Force handed his wife, his eldest daughter and their guest into the first carriage, which he entered after them, the party of four filling the interior.
Le handed Miss Meeke and his two young cousins into the second carriage, and followed them.
And the little procession left the churchyard, and took their way through the grove to the turnpike road leading to Mondreer.
Meanwhile, the whole congregation of wedding guests lingered in the church, and gathered into groups to talk over the strange events that had just happened before their eyes.
They were not disappointed, those wedding guests. Far from that. They had got so much more than they expected! They had not only seen the bride, the bridegroom, the bridesmaids, the bride's mother, and all their dresses, which had been made in New York, after the latest fashion; they had not only seen the whole marriage ceremony performed, and noted the demeanor of every one concerned in it, from the rector who read the rites to the smallest bridesmaid who held the glove; they had not only seen all these pageantries which they had expected to see, but they had seen a great deal more than they had bargained for. They had witnessed the performance of a startling drama in real life--the arrest of a marriage by the sudden appearance of the would-be bridegroom's wife.
Now, they had got a great deal more than they had looked for, besides having something to talk about all the rest of their lives.