Chapter XXXIII. Another Wedding-Day Brings Strange Results.

Just as we had shut off steam Mr Bowden stepped on board and accosted me.

‘Oh, Frank, I am glad to see you! circumstances have occurred which render it extremely improbable that your cousin's wedding will come off to-day. It's very vexatious and annoying to her and the family. It will be the second time it has been postponed. To think that such an unforeseen circumstance should have happened just now.’

My hopes rose to a high pitch as he spoke—hopes that this mysterious something would put off for ever this hateful marriage. ‘But, Mr Bowden, to what do you allude?’ I inquired.

‘Why, our friend who was to have married your cousin has been notified by telegram that he must, at all hazards, proceed to Wellington by this steamer, which, owing to her delay, must be off almost immediately. She has no cargo worth mentioning to discharge, and the tide is already going out fast, so she can't wait. This renders it impossible for the wedding to take place, for three o'clock was the hour fixed.’

For the life of me I could not understand what my rival meant by this move. I felt sure it was some deep-laid scheme or other. At all events, any respite was preferable to the knowledge that Fanny was another's. I turned again to my informant.

‘Are you certain what you say is correct? Could you not have been misinformed?’

‘No, I assure you I am right. He showed me the telegram himself, and will be here directly. I came down to see him off, and to take a message up to the station for him, rather than to tell you.

This was more astonishing still, as Bowden was one of the few that were of my way of thinking about Grosvenor, and although he might easily have seen the telegram, yet it seemed in the highest degree improbable that he should have troubled to come down to see a man off whom he cordially detested. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by another exclamation.

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‘Here he comes! I'm glad. I was getting tired of waiting. I've been hanging about for the last half hour.’

‘Where?’ I replied. ‘I do not see him.’ Then rather sarcastically, ‘Why, here is the parson! Is he come to see him off too, I wonder?’

‘Well, it's him I meant. Why else did you think I'd trouble to wait about for?’

‘Why, I thought you meant Grosvenor. You said the man who was to marry my cousin.’

‘Ha ha! I see your mistake. I certainly said our friend who was to marry your cousin, but never dreamt you would have thought I meant Grosvenor. I shouldn't have used that term in his case. Our old friend here was to have done the business, wasn't he? The idea of you thinking I would have troubled to have come to see that confounded humbug off. If it was to see him hanged I'd go with pleasure ten times the distance, for, on my conscience, I believe he richly deserves it. I can't think how a man like Melton can allow him to marry his daughter. I have said as much as I dared to him, but it was no good.’

This explanation sent my hopes down to zero again.

The clergyman came on board and greeted us.

‘Oh, Frank!’ he exelaimed, ‘will you take a message to your uncle from me? Tell him that I regret most exceedingly—–’

He stopped short as my brother-in-law, for whom I had been most impatiently waiting, emerged from the saloon, loaded with his wife's wraps and travelling bags, and followed by the good lady herself.

I immediately made the necessary introductions.

‘Ah now, I see a way out of the trouble, that is, if Mr Stubbs will oblige us all by taking the service for me. You must understand, sir, that I had promised to marry these good people to-day, but have been imperatively summoned to Wellington on some most important business which will not admit of delay. I must go by this steamer, which will leave almost immediately. I would have gone up this morning and persuaded them to have the ceremony performed at an earlier hour, but I managed, as I thought, to secure a substitute, and, indeed, considered the matter settled, until half-an-hour since I received a note stating that the gentleman on whom I relied was laid up in bed. I was just about to send Mr Bowden up to inform them that I could not possibly get any one in time, in which case the wedding would have had to be postponed, for Mr Melton would not, under any circumstances, consent for a minister of any other denomination to be called in. Your providential arrival has, therefore, averted this very awkward state of things.’

‘I shall be most happy to be of any service, sir. What time does the ceremony take place?’

‘At three o'clock. Frank knows the church. You have no time to spare. Mr Bowden, if he will be so kind, might ride on and let them know you are coming. I would lend you my conveyance, but my horse is too slow. Had you not better get a buggy from Chavanne, Frank?’

‘Certainly,’ I replied. ‘Mr Bowden, as I see you are hurrying on to get your horse from the stables, will you order a buggy to be ready immediately. They will not send down for us, as they will require the trap to take the wedding party to church.’

‘By-the-bye, Mr Stubbs, I fancy I heard Frank say, when talking of you some little time since, that you were officiating as chaplain of page 141 the Dunedin gaol. Were you there long?’ queried the old gentleman, with an inquisitive and surprised glance at my effeminate brother-in-law, who certainly did not give one the idea of a gaol chaplain.

‘Oh, no. I only held the appointment for a few weeks until I could hear of something more to my taste,’ replied Stubbs.

‘You would be there at the time that noted Fitzwilliam escaped. I see by the papers they have not caught him yet. He must be a clever scoundrel.’

‘Yes, I was there at the time, and was bitterly deceived in him, for I looked on him as one of the most promising converts I had ever, through God's grace, been the means of showing the error of his ways. Stubbs then abruptly changed the subject, as it was rather a sore one with him.

By this time we had reached the stables, and found a buggy and pair ready harnessed for our use. The man in charge called me aside. ‘The boss ordered this pair to be put in when he heard you were going to drive, and were in a hurry, Mr Frank. He knows you are a good whip. They can travel, and no mistake, but the near-side one is devilish touchy, and only been in harness a few times. You'll have to be careful with him. As long as you let him go he'll be all right. All the other hosses as are any good are out.’

We jumped into the buggy, and the moment the man let go their heads the horses were off at a rattling pace. The animal the groom referred to was no other than Rewi, the nag I had hired for my first ride in New Zealand. He had only lately been submitted to, what he evidently considered, the indignity of harness, and he resented the insult by constant uneasy plunges and shrinkings, if by chance the pole or the traces unduly pressed against his glossy sides. He had never objected to the saddle, but the collar was too much to be borne with equanimity. My present mood rendered me by no means the lenient and cautious Jehu which the animal required. I was reflecting on the irony of fate—that fate which made me positively assist, by having induced my brother-in-law to come down with me, in consummating the very deed, which, had I not done so, must have at least been postponed, and which I would have given worlds to frustrate. This state of mind naturally made me morose and irritable, and little likely to deal easily with the increasing displays of temper in the animal, which was, for the time, under my guidance. I had to put up with my troubles, and do my duty, however disagreeable, and there was no reason why he should not. A rough pull or two on the bit; and a most injudicious cut with the whip, did not make him more amenable to discipline. I began to see that I must perforce adopt more gentle treatment with him, for it was all I could do to restrain the pace to a spanking trot, when an exclamation from Harry made me look round. Two Maoris were coming up behind us at a tearing gallop, whipping, spurring, and shouting at the height of their voices, their meagre garments flying in the wind. They were evidently under the influence of liquor, and would have no regard for any danger they might cause us. This was more than previously excited equine endurance could stand. A bolt was the natural consequence. Rewi's companion was now, by his ill-example, rendered as frightened as he was. Still, if the reins held, I might yet get them in hand without danger to ourselves. Stubbs, who occupied the front seat with me, was whiter than usual with terror, and Cissy, I grieve to relate, added her screams to the mad yells page 142 of laughter from our pursuers, who thought it a grand joke to see the pakehas in trouble, and rattled on behind, determined to see the fun to the finish, utterly regardless of Harry's shouts for them to pull up. I concentrated all my energies in keeping the horses straight for a time, and we flew over the ground, the buggy rocking from side to side. But this was all very well while the road was straight. Not ten chains ahead was a most dangerous turn. I must at all hazards arrest their mad flight before we reached that point. I braced myself for the effort, and took a pull at them which threatened to dislocate their jaws. It perceptibly slackened their pace, but Rewi resented it by a furious storm of kicks, which annihilated the splash-board, smashed the pole, and, worse than all, gave Stubbs a smart blow on the leg. Harry was out of the buggy in a twinkling, and had hold of the horses’ heads bringing them completely to a standstill. With my assistance they were speedily released from the remains of the buggy, and mounting Rewi's bare back, I galloped off for another conveyance to transport my friends to the church.

This accident must of necessity prevent us from reaching the church till long after the specified time. Still, as I knew now that Stubbs would be available, if the ceremony did not take place that afternoon, it would the next day so the temptation to delay matters, which at first presented itself to me, vanished when I reflected how little was to be gained.

The wedding party arrived at the church in due time, and took their places, much astonished to see that the clergyman had not arrived. The church had been prettily decorated as a surprise to Fanny by her young lady friends, and was fairly well-filled with gaily-dressed spectators. Where could the clergyman be?

Again and again Bowden, who had delivered his message, was questioned, but all he could say was that Mr Stubbs had promised to be there in time, and that a buggy and pair of fast horses had been ordered.

‘That young fool of a Frank is at the bottom of it. He'd do anything to stop the wedding. If it is his fault, by Heavens he shall suffer for it!' muttered uncle in an undertone.

‘I'll answer for it they'll be here directly, sir. Don't put yourself out. It's a good, long drive, and they had but little time to do it in,’ interpolated Grosvenor, although they said his looks belied his words and proclaimed that he, too, was ill at ease.

‘Frank could have easily got them up before this with that team. If the parson was driving I could understand it.’

Uncle's discomposure naturally considerably augmented that of the ladies, and when a friend, who had ridden down till he could obtain a view of a good stretch of the road, returned and exclaimed, ‘No buggy and pair in sight, sir. Nothing but an old spring cart coming this way, and that can't be them!’ the whole party were in a state of uneasiness and alarm, which can be better imagined that described, and which certainly ill befitted a wedding party. They were consulting as to whether it would not be as well to leave the church and return home, when, with a deafening rattle of dilapidated springs and tires, the old spring cart drew up at the door, and its long-suffering occupants, almost shaken to death, got out, and proved to be the long-looked-for parson, Harry and myself. It was the only vehicle I could obtain at so short a notice. Cissy had wisely accepted an offer of a page 143 drive in a more suitable equipage, on condition that she would not object to wait an hour at a wayside farm. With a good, strong rope for a kicking-strap, I had ventured to put Master Rewi between the shafts, and Cissy preferred missing the wedding to riding behind him again. The other horse had been lamed by the accident, and was not available. Nothing but a strong sense of duty would have persuaded Stubbs to again trust himself to Rewi's tender mercies; but time was wearing on, and he saw no other alternative. He was in mortal terror all the way, notwithstanding my assurances that the horse was so tied down to the shafts that kicking was an impossibility. He fervently thanked his Maker that he had arrived alive at the end of his journey, and certainly presented a pitiable object as he hobbled quickly into the vestry at a side door with his lame leg, his black coat covered with dust, and his face displaying the intensity of the strain his nervous system had undergone. This was not lessened when he was told that the wedding party had been waiting half-an-hour at the communion rails. Uncle and Grosvenor came out of the church to speak to him just as he disappeared into it by the other door. They then went back to their places without having seen him. Scarcely knowing what he was doing in his nervous confusion, he hurriedly emerged from the vestry with downcast eyes, and took his place at the altar with his book in his hand. Harry and I found seats in the body of the church.

My cousin looked supremely lovely. The bewitching beauty of her peerless form was enhanced by the white bridal attire. Now, for the first time, my disconcerted brother-in-law attained sufficient command of his feelings to raise his eyes and survey the party, but they only rested on Fanny, enthralled by her entrancing charms. She coloured as she met his gaze, but not to the extent that he did as he speedily applied himself to finding his place in his book. What a shy, contemptible little atom of mortality! What effect could such a man have on the male portion of his congregation? These thoughts, which were flashing through my mind, were suddenly cut short. What effect he might have had on any one else I know not, but he certainly had a most powerful one on Grosvenor. Why that look of ghastly horror, mortification, and hatred, as for the first time the bridegroom's careless eyes rested on the face of the most harmless man on earth? A moment before, as he caught my eye, his expression had been one of exultant pride and pleasurable anticipation. The change was more pronounced than it had been on encountering Julia at the dance. Though emboldened, probably by the ease with which he had extricated himself from that scrape, it was equally brief. A moment more and it was gone. Few if any besides myself noticed it, for I alone, of all that crowd, felt in my heart so bitter a hatred of the man who was robbing me of my love, that for the life of me I could not keep my hungry—I had almost written murderous—eyes off him. Could it have been my diseased fancy? No, I could not think so. I stood in, as it were, an awful nightmare. I felt there must be something beneath that sudden recognition. What was it, then? I was helpless to fathom it. Oh, God! could I but wake up and find it all a dream, and Grosvenor but one of those horrible demons who haunt and torture us in our slumber, but flee powerless for evil when we awake! But this could not be. I could not speak. I could not move. I felt glued to the spot. For the life of me I could not take my eyes off this villain who was bringing such page 144 dire misery into the family. As I stood thus, the perspiration rolling off me in my mental agony, dear little Alice, in a kindly voice, asked me to come out as the church was so hot. ‘Come out, old man,’ whispered Harry, ‘you'll be better then.’ I neither answered nor appeared to heed my kind friends. My face was white as death, they told me afterwards, and they feared my reason was going. At this moment I sent up one of the most fervent prayers I ever uttered that something might happen to stop this awful sacrifice.

The service commenced ‘Stubbs’ weak voice was plainly audible in the still church. Again he looked swiftly at the pair he was about to unite. Swift as that look was, however, Grosvenor anticipated it by turning aside to glance down the church, and Stubbs again only saw Fanny's down-turned face. But still nervous and confused, he quickly took refuge in his book, and seemed determined not to raise his eyes from it again.

What a farce! What a hollow mockery to read those solemn words to one who had no sense or care of the responsibility he was undertaking, and would utter the responses and promises as so many meaningless words, to be, perhaps, kept as long as it suited him, then cast aside! I watched his look of self-satisfied pride as he felt, doubtless, that in a few brief moments he would have achieved his object, and be beyond the power of the fear which had so strangely disturbed him. For a moment my glance fell on Fanny. Her face wore the expression of a beautiful woman, conscious of all her faults and failings, but with all her worldly pride and passion hushed into a holy calm as she listened intently to the solemn words. Still the monotonous voice read on: ‘Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy state of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour her, and keep her in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, keep thee only to her as long as ye both shall live?’

With a haughty smile on his lips Grosvenor answered, ‘I will.’

My head sunk on my breast as these words seemed to me to seal my cousin's doom. A pause made me look up as suddenly. Stubbs still stood book in hand, but, even as I looked, it closed with a bang. His nervousness was forgotten, his face assumed a look of fiery indignation. It was some moments before words would come. When they did they were not those of the prayer-book, far from it. Pointing with no unsteady hand straight at Grosvenor, he exclaimed in a voice no longer calm and quiet:—

‘You will, you say, sir? you, an escaped criminal, with the knowledge of the deceit, and far worse, you have practised, will marry this young lady? Not with my assistance. I refuse to proceed with the service. I only this moment recognized you, but fortunately it is not too late. Mr Frank, see that this man does not leave the church while I speak to your uncle in the vestry.

With a thrill of wild and delirious delight which I shall never forget, I accepted the task. Grosvenor turned pale as death, and in his impotent fury at being baulked in his designs at the last moment he uttered curses loud and deep. Remembering himself too late, he turned to Fanny, and tried to make some apology and explanation to her. ‘What on earth was the matter with the cranky little parson? He has evidently mistaken me for someone else.’

My fair cousin's self-command did not desert her in her pressing need. She stood like a queen, and imperiously motioned him back.

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‘Sir, I have been mistaken in you; he is not. From this moment we are strangers.’ And turning to aunt without a sign of tremor in her voice, she continued, ‘Let us go home at once, aunt,’ and they left the sacred edifice.

Uncle, on complying with Stubb's request to go into the vestry with him, merely reiterated his request to me. ‘Whatever happens we can trust you to look after him, Frank.’

He was right.