then
stopped.

The servant seemed surprised.

"Mrs. Finnimore?" said she.

"Yes," said Jack. "Is she here?"

"Here?"

"Yes."

"Why, sir--she's gone--"

"Gone!" cried Jack. "Gone! Impossible! Why we drove straight here from
St. Malachi's, and didn't meet her. Which street did she go?"

"Which street, sir? St. Malachi's, sir?" repeated the servant, in
bewilderment.

"Yes--which way did she go?"

"Why, sir--she went to Montreal," said the servant--"to Montreal, you
know, sir," she repeated, in a mincing tone, bridling and blushing at
the same time.

"To--where? what?" cried Jack, thunderstruck--"Montreal! Montreal! What
the devil is the meaning of all that?" And Jack fairly gasped, and
looked at me in utter bewilderment. And I looked back at him with
emotions equal to his own. And we both stood, to use an expressive but
not by any means classical word--dumfounded.

[Had a thunder-bolt burst--and all that sort of thing, you know, my boy.]

Jack was quite unable to utter another word. So I came to his help.

"I think you said your mistress went to Montreal?" said I, mildly and
encouragingly, for the servant began to look frightened.

"Yes, sir."

"Will you be kind enough to tell me what she went there for? I wouldn't
ask you, but it's a matter of some importance."

"What for, sir?" said the servant--and a very pretty blush came over
her rather pretty face. "What for, sir? Why, sir--you know, sir--she
went off, sir--on her--her--wedding-tower, sir."

"Her WHAT!!!" cried Jack, wildly.

"Her wedding-tower, sir," repeated the servant, in a faint voice.

"Her wedding-tour!" cried Jack. "Her wedding-tour! Do you mean what you
say? Is this a joke? What do you mean?"

At this, which was spoken most vehemently by Jack, who was now in a
state of frightful excitement, the servant turned pale and started back
in fear--so I interposed.

"Don't be at all alarmed," I said, kindly. "We merely want to know, you
know, what you mean by saying it was a wedding-tour. What wedding? We
want to know, you know."

"Wedding, sir? Lor', sir! Yes, sir. This morning, sir. She was
married, you know, sir."

"MARRIED!" cried Jack, in a strange, wild voice.

"This morning!" I exclaimed.

"Lor', sir! Yes, sir," continued the maid, who was still a little
frightened at the presence of such excited visitors. "This morning,
sir. Early, sir. Six o'clock, sir. And they took the seven o'clock
train, sir--for Montreal, you know,