er father's death, was
engaged to be married to Colonel Paul Merrick (Merricks of Clarke
county, you know). The wedding was postponed for a year when General
Waring died, and Louisa went to her uncle's--your father, William--to
live during that time. When the year was over, every preparation was
made for the marriage: invitations were sent to all the kinsfolk on both
sides (and that included three or four counties on a rough guess), and
we--the immediate family--were assembled at Major Scheffer's preparing
for the grand event, when----" Beardsley became now excessively hot and
flurried, and getting up, thumped heavily up and down the room.

"After all, there is nothing to tell. Why should we bring in a famous
lawyer to sit in judgment on her as if the girl were a criminal? She
only did, Floyd, what women have done since the beginning--changed her
mind without reason. Paul Merrick was as clever and lovable a young
fellow as you would find in the State, and Louisa was faithful to
him--she's faithful to him yet; but on the night before the wedding she
refused to marry him, and has persisted in the refusal ever since,
without assigning a cause."

"Is that all of the story?" I asked.

Beardsley was silent.

"No," said his wife gently; "that is not all. I thought McCormack's
courage would fail before he gave you the facts. I shall try and tell
you----"

"Only the facts, if you please, without any inferences or opinions of
others."

The old lady paused for a moment, and then began: "A couple of days
before the wedding we went over to Major Scheffer's to help prepare for
it. You know we have no restaurateurs nor confectioners to depend upon,
and such occasions are busy seasons. The gentlemen played whist, rode
about the plantation, or tried the Major's wines, while indoors we, all
of us--married ladies and girls and a dozen old aunties--were at work
with cakes, creams, and pastry. I recollect I took over our cook, Prue,
because Lou fancied nobody could make such wine jelly as hers. Then
Lou's trousseau was a very rich one, and she wanted to try on all of her
pretty dresses, that we might see how----"

"My dear!" interrupted Mr. Beardsley, "this really appears irrelevant to
the matter----"

"Not at all. I wish Mr. Floyd to gain an idea of Louisa's temper and
mood at that time. The truth is, she was passionately fond of her lover,
and very happy that her marriage was so near; and being a modest little
thing, she hid he