"No," said the Elder, "I never did, but I"ve always thought it was the only day a man ought to be married on; I mean the most beautiful, the sweetest day."
"Yes," replied Draxy, a solemn and tender light spreading over her whole face, "it certainly is. I wonder why n.o.body has ever thought so before.
But perhaps many people have," she added with a merrier smile; "we don"t know everybody."
Presently she looked up anxiously and said:
"But do you think the people would like it? Wouldn"t they think it very strange?"
The Elder hesitated. He, too, had thought of this.
"Well, I tell you, Draxy, it"s just this way: I"ve tried more than once to get some of them to come and be married on a Sunday in church, and they wouldn"t, just because they never heard of it before; and I"d like to have them see that I was in true earnest about it. And they like you so well, Draxy, and you know they do all love me a great deal more"n I deserve, and I can"t help believing it will do them good all their lives by making them think more how solemn a thing a marriage ought to be, if they take it as I think they will; and I do think I know them well enough to be pretty sure."
So it was settled that the marriage should take place after the morning sermon, immediately before the communion service. When Reuben was told of this, his face expressed such absolute amazement that Draxy laughed outright, in spite of the deep solemnity of her feeling in regard to it.
"Why, father," she said, "you couldn"t look more surprised if I had told you I was not to be married at all."
"But Draxy, Draxy," Reuben gasped, "who ever heard of such a thing? What will folks say?"
"I don"t know that anybody ever heard of such a thing, father dear,"
answered Draxy, "but I am not afraid of what the people will say. They love Mr. Kinney, and he has always told them that Sunday was the day to be married on. I shouldn"t wonder if every young man and young woman in the parish looked on it in a new and much holier light after this. I know I began to as soon as the Elder talked about it, and it wouldn"t seem right to me now to be married on any other day," and Draxy stooped and kissed her father"s forehead very tenderly. There was a tenderness in Draxy"s manner now towards every one which can hardly be described in words. It had a mixture of humility and of gracious bestowal in it, of entreaty and of benediction, which were ineffably beautiful and winning. It is ever so when a woman, who is as strong as she is sweet, comes into the fullness of her womanhood"s estate of love. Her joy overflows on all; currents of infinite compa.s.sion set towards those who must miss that by which she is thrilled; her incredulity of her own bliss is forever questioning humbly; she feels herself forever in presence of her lover, at once rich and free and a queen, and poor and chained and a va.s.sal. So her largess is perpetual, involuntary, unconscious, and her appeal is tender, wistful, beseeching. In Draxy"s large nature,--her pure, steadfast, loving soul, quickened and exalted by the swift currents of an exquisitely attuned and absolutely healthful body,--this new life of love and pa.s.sion wrought a change which was vivid and palpable to the commonest eyes. Men and women upon whom she smiled, in pa.s.sing, felt themselves lifted and drawn, they knew not how. A sentiment of love, which had almost reverence in it, grew up towards her in the hearts of the people. A certain touch of sadness, of misgiving, mingled with it.
"I"m afraid she ain"t long for this world; she"s got such a look o" heaven in her face," was said more than once, in grieving tones, when the Elder"s approaching marriage was talked of. But old Ike was farther sighted, in his simplicity, than the rest. ""Tain"t that," he said, "that woman"s got in her face. It"s the kind o" heaven that G.o.d sends down to stay"n this world, to help make us fit for the next. Shouldn"t wonder ef she outlived th" Elder a long day," and Ike wiped his old eyes slyly with the back of his hand.
The day of the marriage was one of those shining September days which only mountain regions know. The sky was cloudless and of a transcendent blue.
The air was soft as the air of June. Draxy"s young friends had decorated the church with evergreens and clematis vines; and on each side of the communion-table were tall sheaves of purple asters and golden-rod. Two children were to be baptized at noon, and on a little table, at the right of the pulpit, stood the small silver baptismal font, wreathed with white asters and the pale feathery green of the clematis seed.
When Draxy walked up the aisle leaning on her father"s arm, wearing the same white dress she had worn on Sundays all summer, it cannot be denied that there were sighs of disappointment in some of the pews. The people had hoped for something more. Draxy had kept her own counsel on this point closely, replying to all inquiries as to what she would wear, "White, of course," but replying in such a tone that no one had quite dared to ask more, and there had even been those in the parish who "reckoned" that she wouldn"t "be satisfied with anythin" less than white satin." Her head was bare, her beautiful brown hair wound tightly round and round in the same ma.s.sive knot as usual. Her only ornaments were the creamy white blossoms of the low cornel; one cl.u.s.ter in the braids of her hair, and one on her bosom. As she entered the pew and sat down by the side of her mother, slanting sunbeams from the southern windows fell upon her head, lighting up the bright hair till it looked like a saintly halo. Elder Kinney sat in the pulpit, with his best loved friend, Elder Williams, who was to preach that day and perform the marriage ceremony. When Draxy and her father entered the door, Elder Kinney rose and remained standing until they reached their pew. As Draxy sat down and the golden sunbeams flickered around her, the Elder sank back into his seat and covered his eyes with his hand. He did not change his posture until the prayers and the hymns and the sermon were over, and Elder Williams said in a low voice,--
"The ceremony of marriage will now be performed." Then he rose, his countenance glowing like that of one who had come from some Mount of Transfiguration. With a dignity and grace of bearing such as royal amba.s.sadors might envy, he walked slowly down to Reuben Miller"s pew, and, with his head reverently bent, received Draxy from her father"s hands.
Pa.s.sionate love and close contact with Draxy"s exquisite nature were developing, in this comparatively untrained man, a peculiar courteousness and grace, which added a subtle charm to the simplicity of his manners. As he walked up the aisle with Draxy clinging to his arm, his tall figure looked majestic in its strength, but his face was still bent forward, turned toward her with a look of reverence, of love unspeakable.
The whole congregation rose, moved by one impulse, and the silence was almost too solemn. When the short and simple ceremony was over, the Elder led Draxy to his own pew and sat down by her side.
After the little children had been baptized, the usual announcement of the Lord"s Supper was made, and the usual invitation given. Absolute silence followed it, broken only by the steps of the singers leaving their seats in the gallery to take places below. Not a person moved to leave the body of the house. Elder Williams glanced at Elder Kinney in perplexity, and waited for some moments longer. The silence still remained unbroken; there was not a man, woman, or child there but felt conscious of a tender and awed impulse to remain and look on at this ceremony, so newly significant and solemn to their beloved Elder. Tears came into many eyes as he took the cup of wine from Deacon Plummer"s trembling hands and pa.s.sed it to Draxy, and many hearts which had never before longed for the right to partake of the sacred emblems longed for it then.
After the services, were ended, just as Elder Williams was about to p.r.o.nounce the benediction, Elder Kinney rose from his seat, and walking rapidly to the communion table said,--
"My dear friends, I know you don"t look for any words from me to-day; but there are some of you I never before saw at this blessed feast of our Lord, and I must say one word to you from Him." Then pausing, he looked round upon them all, and, with an unutterable yearning in the gesture, stretched out both his arms and said: "O my people, my people! like as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing, He would have gathered you long ago, but ye would not." Then, still holding out his arms towards them, he p.r.o.nounced the benediction.
Silently and solemnly the little congregation dispersed. A few lingered, and looked longingly at Draxy, as if they would go back and speak to her.
But she stood with her eyes fixed on the Elder"s face, utterly unconscious of the presence of any other human being. Even her father dared not break the spell of holy beat.i.tude which rested on her countenance.
"No, no, ma," he said to Jane, who proposed that they should go back to the pew and walk home with her. "This ain"t like any other wedding that was ever seen on this earth, unless, maybe, that one in Cana. And I don"t believe the Lord was any nearer to that bridegroom than He is to this one."
So Jane and Reuben walked home from church alone, for the first time since they came to Clairvend, and Draxy and her husband followed slowly behind.
The village people who watched them were bewildered by their manner, and interpreted it variously according to their own temperaments.
"You"d ha" thought now they"d been married years an" years to look at "em," said Eben Hill; "they didn"t speak a word, nor look at each other any more "n old Deacon Plummer "n his wife, who was joggin" along jest afore "em."
Old Ike--poor, ignorant, loving old Ike, whose tender instinct was like the wistful sagacity of a faithful dog--read their faces better. He had hurried out of church and hid himself in the edge of a little pine grove which the Elder and Draxy must pa.s.s.
"I"d jest like to see "em a little longer," he said to himself half apologetically. As they walked silently by, old Ike"s face saddened, and at last became convulsed with grief. Creeping out from beneath the pines, he slowly followed them up the hill, muttering to himself, in the fashion which had grown upon him in his solitary life:--
"O Lord! O Lord! No such looks as them is long for this earth. O Lord!
which is it ye"re goin" to take? I reckon it"s the Elder. I reckon "tis.
That woman"s goin" to have her heart broke. O Lord! O Lordy me! I can"t bear the sight on"t!" and he leaped a fence and struck off across the fields towards his house. He did not shut his eyes that night, but tossed and groaned aloud. Towards morning he formed a resolution which calmed him somewhat.
"Ef I kin only be right close to "em till it comes, p"raps I can be of a little use. Leastways it "ud be some comfort to try," he said.
As the Elder and Draxy were sitting at breakfast the next day, they caught sight of the old man"s bent figure walking up and down outside the gate, and stopping now and then irresolutely, as if he would come in, but dared not.
"Why, there"s old Ike," exclaimed the Elder, "What on earth can he want at this time of day!"
Draxy looked up with a very tender smile, and said: "I shouldn"t wonder if he wanted just to see how happy you look, Mr. Kinney. n.o.body in this world loves you so well as old Ike does."
"Oh, Draxy!" said the Elder, reproachfully.
"No, dear, not even I. Old Ike never dreams of receiving any love in return. I have seen his eyes follow you with just such a look as dogs"
eyes have. I wish we could do something for him."
"We will, dear, we will go and see him often. I own it smites me to the soul sometimes to think how humble he is, and so glad to see me when I haven"t been near him for six months, maybe."
At this moment Hannah put her head into the door and said, in no pleasant voice:--
"Here"s that Ike Sanborn wantin" to speak to ye sir, but I telled him"--
"Let him come right in here, Hannah," said Draxy. "Mr. Kinney and I will be very glad to see him this morning." Hannah"s face relaxed in spite of herself, in answer to Draxy"s smile, but she could not forgive Ike for what seemed to her a most unwarrantable intrusion, and she was grimmer than ever when she returned to him, saying,--
"They"ll see ye; but I must say, I sh"d ha" thought ye"d know better"n to be comin" round here this mornin" of all mornin"s. Ain"t they to have a minute"s peace to theirselves?"
Ike looked up appealingly at the hard Indian face.
"I wa"n"t goin" to keep "em a minute," he said: "I won"t go in now. I"ll come agin, ef you say so, Hannah."
"No, no--go in, now ye"re here; ye"ve interrupted "em, and ye may"s well take the good on"t now," replied the vengeful Hannah, pushing Ike along towards the sitting-room door.
"Ef there"s anythin" I do hate, it"s shiftless white folks," grumbled Hannah as she went back to her work. If poor Ike had known the angry contempt for him which filled Hannah"s heart, he would have felt still less courage for the proposition he had come to make. As it was, he stood in the doorway the very picture of irresolution and embarra.s.sment.
"Come in, come in, Ike," said the Elder; "you"re the first one of the parish to pay your respects to Mrs. Kinney." Draxy rose from her seat smiling, and went towards him and said: "And Mrs. Kinney is very glad to see you, Ike."
This was too much for the loving old heart. He dropped his hat on the floor, and began to speak so rapidly and incoherently that both Draxy and the Elder were almost frightened.
"O Elder! O Miss Kinney!--I"ve been a thinkin" that p"raps you"d let me come an" live with you, an" do all yer ch.o.r.es. I"d bring my two cows, an"
my keepin" wouldn"t be very much; an"--oh, sir, ef ye"ll only let me, I"ll bless ye all the days o" my life," and Ike began to cry.
So did Draxy, for that matter, and the Elder was not very far from it.
Draxy spoke first.