"Exactly. That must have been the case."
And thenceforth the matter was deemed settled. However, the gay, light-hearted party of English had taken their departure,--the friendly young artist who sketched and smoked and enjoyed himself; his handsome young wife, who sketched and played with her handsome child, and enjoyed _herself_; the beautiful younger sister, who blushed and was charmingly bashful, but enjoyed herself; the fair little saint with the grave youthful face, who took care of them all, and yet enjoyed _herself_,--the lover, the elder lady, the guest who came to be groomsman, the bride,--they were all gone at last, and their absence was the cause of the hush of which I speak.
There had been a wedding,--a joyous, light-hearted wedding, in which the bride had looked pretty and flower-like and ethereal,--a fragile creature enough in her white dress and under her white veil, but a delightfully happy creature, notwithstanding,--in which the bridegroom had been plainly filled with chivalric tenderness and bliss,--in which the two sisters had been charming beyond measure, and the awkward, affectionate girl friend from the seminary had blushed herself into a high fever. There could not have been a more prettily orthodox wedding, said the beholders. Somehow its glow of young romance touched people, it was so evident that the young couple were fond of each other, and happy and hopeful. There were those who, seeing it solemnized in the small church, shed a few tears, they knew not why, when Grif lifted Dolly"s veil and kissed her without a word.
"It is all rose color to them," said one of these soft-hearted ones, apologetically, to her neighbor.
Rose color! I should think it was.
But if it was all rose color then, what was it that first evening they spent at home,--in their own home, in the little house which was so bright and pretty that it seemed more like a dream than a reality?
What color did life look when Grif led Dolly across the threshold, half trembling himself for very joy? What color did it look when he shut the door of the little parlor, and, turning round, went to her and folded her in his arms close to his beating heart?
Rose color! It was golden and more than golden! And yet, for the first minute, Dolly could not speak, and the next she laid her cheek in her favorite place, on the lapel of Grif "s coat, and burst into a great gush of soft, warm tears,--tears without a touch of any other element, however, than love and happiness.
"_Home_, Grif!" she said.
He was quite pale and he had almost lost his voice, too, but he managed to answer her, unsteadily.
"Yes, Dolly," he said; "home!" And he stroked the bright hair upon his breast, with a world of meaning in his touch.
"Do you think," she said next, "that I am good enough and wise enough to take care of it, and to take care of _you_, Grif?"
"Do you think," he said, "that I am good enough and wise enough to take care of _you_?"
She lifted up her face and kissed him.
"We love each other," she whispered, "we trust each other, and so we can help each other, and G.o.d will help us both. Ah, Grif, how bright and sweet life is!"
And she scarcely knew, tender little soul, that instead of "life" she should have said "love."
There we will leave them both, merely hinting at the festivities that followed,--merely hinting at the rejoicings at Bloomsbury Place, the gatherings at Brabazon Lodge, and the grand family reception at the house of the bride,--a reception at which Dolly shone forth with renewed splendor, presiding over a gorgeous silver tea-service, which was one of Miss MacDowlas"s many gifts, dispensing tea and coffee with the deportment of a housekeeper of many years" standing, and utterly distracting Grif with her matronly airs and graces.
Vagabondia was itself again in these days, but it was turning its brighter side outward. Phil was winning success, too, his position in the world of art was becoming secured, and Bloomsbury Place was to be touched up and refurnished gradually. Aimee had promised to make her home with Dolly until such time as her sweet little saint"s face won her a home of her own. Miss MacDowlas had been adopted into the family circle, and was conscious of being happier than she had ever felt since her long-past youth slipped from her grasp. Tod"s teeth were "through,"
as Mrs. Phil phrased it, and convulsions had not supervened, to the ecstasy of his anxious admirers. And Mollie,--well, Mollie waltzed with Ralph Gowan again on the night of Dolly"s reception, and when the dance was at an end, she went and seated herself near her hostess upon the green sofa--it was a green sofa, though a far more luxurious one than Dolly and Grif had ever dared to set their hearts upon in the olden days.
"Dolly," she said, blus.h.i.+ng for the last time in this history of mine, and looking down at her bouquet of waxen-white camellias and green leaves,--"Dolly, I suppose Aimee has told you that I am engaged to--to--"
"To Mr. Gowan," suggested Dolly.
"Yes," answered Mollie, "to Mr. Gowan."