It had been decided the night before that Gwynne Ellis should leave the
house alone at his usual early hour, and that his friends should come
by the high road from Abersethin, and down by the river-path to the
church. They were not to stand outside, but to enter the church at
once, to avoid any possible observation; but in spite of this prior
arrangement Cardo wondered why no one appeared.
"Can Gwynne Ellis be late? or those confounded fellows from Abersethin
have forgotten all about it, probably? It's the way of the world!"
As he crossed the stepping-stones to the church he felt sure there
would be no wedding, and that he would have to depart at midday still a
bachelor, leaving Valmai to all sorts of dangers and trials!
When he entered the porch, however, and pushed open the door of the
church, in the cool green light inside, he found his three friends
waiting for him.
"I wonder why she doesn't come," he said, turning back to look up the
winding path through the wood; "it's quite time."
"Yes, it is quite time," said Ellis. "I will go and put on my
surplice. You three can sit in that ricketty front pew, or range
yourselves at the altar rail, in fact--there she is coming down the
path, you won't be kept long in suspense."
And as the three young men stood waiting with their eyes fixed upon the
doorway, Valmai appeared, looking very pale and nervous. Gwynne Ellis
had already walked up the church, and was standing inside the broken
altar rails. Valmai had never felt so lonely and deserted. Alone
amongst these strangers, father! mother! old friends all crowded into
her mind; but the memory of them only seemed to accentuate their
absence at this important time of her life! She almost failed as she
walked up with faltering step, but a glance at Cardo's sympathetic,
beaming face restored her courage, and as she took her place by his
side she regained her composure. Before the simple, impressive service
was over she was quite herself again, and when Cardo took her hand in
his in a warm clasp, she returned the pressure with a loving smile of
confidence and trust, and received the congratulations of Gwynne Ellis
and his two friends with a smiling though blushing face.
The two strangers, never having seen her before, were much struck by
her beauty; and indeed she had never looked more lovely. She wore one
of her simple white frocks, and the white hat which had been her best
during the summer, adorned only with a wreath of freshly gathered
jessamine, a bunch of which was also fastened at her neck. With the
addition of a pair of white gloves which Cardo had procured for her,
she looked every inch a bride. She wore no ornament save the wedding
ring which now glistened on her finger.