XL.
AS THE CLOCK STRUCK.
I do not attend weddings in general, but great as my suspense was inreference to Miss Oliver, I felt that I could not miss seeing MissAlthorpe married.
I had ordered a new dress for the occasion, and was in the best ofspirits as I rode to the church in which the ceremony was to beperformed. The excitement of a great social occasion was for once notdisagreeable to me, nor did I mind the crowd, though it pushed me aboutrather uncomfortably till an usher came to my assistance and seated mein a pew, which I was happy to see commanded a fine view of the chancel.
I was early, but then I always am early, and having ample opportunityfor observation, I noted every fine detail of ornamentation withapproval, Miss Althorpe's taste being of that fine order which alwaysfalls short of ostentation. Her friends are in very many instances myfriends, and it was no small part of my pleasure to note theirwell-known faces among the crowd of those that were strange to me. Thatthe scene was brilliant, and that silks, satins, and diamonds abounded,goes without saying.
At last the church was full, and the hush which usually precedes thecoming of the bride was settling over the whole assemblage, when Isuddenly observed, in the person of a respectable-looking gentlemanseated in a side pew, the form and features of Mr. Gryce, the detective.This was a shock to me, yet what was there in his presence there toalarm me? Might not Miss Althorpe have accorded him this pleasure out ofthe pure goodness of her heart? I did not look at anybody else, however,after once my eyes fell upon him, but continued to watch his expression,which was non-commital, though a little anxious for one engaged in apurely social function.
The entrance of the clergyman and the sudden peal of the organ in thewell-known wedding march recalled my attention to the occasion itself,and as at that moment the bridegroom stepped from the vestry to awaithis bride at the altar, I was absorbed by his fine appearance and theair of mingled pride and happiness with which he watched the statelyapproach of the bridal procession.
But suddenly there was a stir through the whole glittering assemblage,and the clergyman made a move and the bridegroom gave a start, and thesound, slight as it was, of moving feet grew still, and I saw advancingfrom the door on the opposite side of the altar a second bride, clad inwhite and surrounded by a long veil which completely hid her face. Asecond bride! and the first was half-way up the aisle, and only onebridegroom stood ready!
The clergyman, who seemed to have as little command of his faculties asthe rest of us, tried to speak; but the approaching woman, upon whomevery regard was fixed, forestalled him by an authoritative gesture.
Advancing towards the chancel, she took her place on the spot reservedfor Miss Althorpe.
Silence had filled the church up to this moment; but at this audaciousmove, a solitary wailing cry of mingled astonishment and despair went upbehind us; but before any of us could turn, and while my own heart stoodstill, for I thought I recognized this veiled figure, the woman at thealtar raised her hand and pointed towards the bridegroom.
"Why does he hesitate?" she cried. "Does he not recognize the only womanwith whom he dare face God and man at the altar? Because I am alreadyhis wedded wife, and have been so for five long years, does that make mywearing of this veil amiss when he a husband, unreleased by the law,dares enter this sacred place with the hope and expectation of abridegroom?"
It was Ruth Oliver who spoke. I recognized her voice as I had recognizedher apparel; but the emotions aroused in me by her presence and thealmost incredible claims she advanced were lost in the horror inspiredby the man she thus vehemently accused. No lost spirit from the pitcould have shown a more hideous commingling of the most terriblepassions known to man than he did in the face of this terriblearraignment; and if Ella Althorpe, cowering in her shame and miseryhalf-way up the aisle, saw him in all his depravity at that instant as Idid, nothing could have saved her long-cherished love from immediatedeath.
Yet he tried to speak.
"It is false!" he cried; "all false! The woman I once called wife isdead."
"Dead, Olive Randolph? Murderer!" she exclaimed. "The blow struck in thedark found another victim!" And pulling the veil from her face, RuthOliver advanced to his side and laid her trembling hand with a firm anddecisive movement on his arm.
Was it her words, her touch, or the sound of the clock striking eight inthe great tower over our heads, which so totally overwhelmed him? As thelast stroke of the hour which was to have seen him united with MissAlthorpe died out in the awed spaces above him, he gave a cry such as Iam sure never resounded between those sacred walls before, and sank in aheap on the spot where but a few minutes previous he had lifted his headin all the glow and pride of a prospective bridegroom.