s so soon
to be her husband. She knew--for they had told her--she was looking
uncommonly well. Her dress, of pure white satin, was singularly
becoming; pearls were interwoven in the heavy braids of her raven
hair; the fleecy folds of the rich veil, which fell like a cloud
around her, swept the floor. In her eye there was an unusual sparkle
and on her cheek an unwonted bloom.

Still Mabel was not happy. There was a heavy pain at her heart--a
foreboding of coming evil--and many an anxious glance she cast toward
the stern, silent man, who, with careless tread, walked up and down
the room, utterly regardless of her presence, and apparently absorbed
in bitter reflections. Once only had she ventured to speak, and
then, in childlike simplicity, she had asked him "how she looked."

"Well enough," was his answer, as, without raising his eyes, he
continued his walk.

The tears gathered in Mabel's eyes--she could not help it; drop after
drop they came, falling upon the marble table, until John Jr., who
saw more than he pretended, came to her side, asking "why she wept."

Mabel was beginning to be terribly afraid of him, and for a moment
she hesitated, but at length, summoning all her courage, she wound
her arms about his neck, and in low, earnest tones said, "Tell me
truly, do you wish to marry me?"

"And suppose I do not?" he asked, with the same stony composure.

Stepping backward, Mabel stood proudly erect before him, and
answered, "Then would I die rather than wed you!"

There was something in her appearance and attitude peculiarly
attractive to John Jr. Never in his life had he felt so much
interested in her, and drawing her toward him and placing his arm
around her, he said, gently, "Be calm, little Meb, you are nervous
to-night. Of course I wish you to be my wife, else I had not asked
you. Are you satisfied?"

The joyous glance of the dark eyes lifted so confidingly to his, was
a sufficient answer, and as if conscious of the injustice he was
about to do her, John Jr. bent for an instant over her slight figure,
mentally resolving, that so far as in him lay he would be true to his
trust. There was a knock at the door, and Mrs. Livingstone herself
looked in, pale, anxious, and expectant. Mr. Douglass, who was among
the invited guests, had arrived, and _must_ have an interview with
John Jr. ere the ceremony. 'Twas in vain she attempted politely to
waive his request. He _would_ see him, and distracted with