And then in turn they repeated the fateful words—‘_I take thee to have and to hold from this day forward_, _for better_, _for worse_, _for richer_, _for poorer_, _in sickness and in health_, _to love_, _cherish_, _and obey_, _till death us do part_, _according to God’s holy ordinance_, _and thereto I give thee my troth_.’ ‘Ring! Ring!’ said Hale. ‘Ring, you Juggins!’ whispered Jack Selby. Frank thrust his hands frantically into all his pockets. The ring was in the last one which he attempted. But the bank-note was not to be found. He remembered that he had put it in some safe place. Where could it have been? Was it in his boot, or in the lining of his hat? No, surely he could not have done anything so infatuated. Again he took his pockets two at a time, while a dreadful pause came in the ceremony. ‘Vestry—afterwards,’ whispered the clergyman. ‘Here you are!’ gasped Frank. He had come upon it in a last desperate dive into his watch-pocket, in which he never by any chance kept anything. Of course it was for that very reason, that it might be alone and accessible, that he had placed it there. Ring and note were handed to the vicar, who deftly concealed the one and returned the other. Then Maude’s little white hand was outstretched, and over the third finger Frank slipped the circlet of gold. ‘_With this ring I thee wed_,’ said Frank, ‘_and with my body I thee worship_ (he paused, and made a mental emendation of ‘with my soul also’), _and with all my worldly goods I thee endow_.’ There was a prayer, and then the vicar joined the two hands, the muscular sunburned one and the dainty white one, with the new ring gleaming upon it. ‘_Those whom God hath joined together_, _let no man put asunder_,’ said he. ‘_Forasmuch as Francis Crosse and Maude Selby have consented together in holy wedlock_, _and have witnessed the same before God and this company_, _and thereto have given and pledged their troth_, _either to other_, _and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring_, _and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they be man and wife together_.’