Gilmour, of Peking, has asked my daughter to write to
you, telling you of her decision to join him as his wife. She has wished
me to write to you for her, and will be pleased to hear from you when
you feel inclined to write.'

The friendly intercourse that followed soon convinced Mr. Gilmour's
family, as any knowledge of Emily Prankard herself soon convinced all
who made her acquaintance, that, however unusual it might appear, this
was indeed one of the marriages made in heaven. By both parties God's
blessing and guidance were invoked, upon both His benediction rested,
and, after a brief separation in this world, they are now both enriched
with the fuller knowledge and the perfect joy of the life beyond.

No time was lost in the arrangements for Miss Prankard's departures to
China. In a letter to his mother, dated October 2, 1874, Mr. Gilmour
writes:--

'You have seen Miss Prankard, but you have not told me what you
think of her. She was delighted with her visit to Scotland and with
you all. You will be glad to hear that I have had some delightful
letters from her. I wrote her, and she has written me in the most
unrestrained way concerning her spiritual hopes and condition, and
though we have never seen each other, yet we know more of each
other's inmost life and soul than, I am quite certain, most lovers
know of each other even after long personal courtship. It is quite
delightful to think that even now we can talk by letter with
perfect unreserve, and I tell _you_ this because I know you will be
glad to hear it. I knew she was a pious girl, else I would not have
asked her to come out to be a missionary's wife, but she turns out
better even than I thought, and I am not much afraid as to how we
shall get on together.'

In the course of the autumn of 1874 Miss Prankard sailed, and in a
letter to the writer, December 13, 1874, Gilmour thus refers to the
close of his unusual but satisfactory courtship:--

'I was married last week, Tuesday, December 8!

'Mrs. Meech's sister is Mrs. Gilmour. We never saw each other till
a week before we were married, and my friends here drew long faces
and howled at me for being rash and inconsiderate. What if you
don't like each other? How then? It is for life! As if I did not
know all this long ago. Well, the time came, the vessel was due at
Shanghai, but would not come. Mr. Meech