"
"Are you mad, Mr. Mareschal?" said Ellieslaw, who, having been this
young man's guardian during his minority, often employed a tone of
authority to him. "Do you suppose I would drag my daughter to the foot
of the altar, were it not her own choice?"
"Tut, Ellieslaw," retorted the young gentleman, "never tell me of the
contrary; her eyes are full of tears, and her cheeks are whiter than
her white dress. I must insist, in the name of common humanity, that the
ceremony be adjourned till to-morrow."
"She shall tell you herself, thou incorrigible intermeddler in what
concerns thee not, that it is her wish the ceremony should go on--Is it
not, Isabella, my dear?"
"It is," said Isabella, half fainting--"since there is no help, either
in God or man."
The first word alone was distinctly audible. Mareschal shrugged up his
shoulders and stepped back. Ellieslaw led, or rather supported, his
daughter to the altar. Sir Frederick moved forward and placed himself by
her side. The clergyman opened his prayer-book, and looked to Mr.
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