There was a great commotion in the house, many coming and going and serving-men and women flying hither and thither. There was to be a great breakfast, or dinner after the ceremony, and to it several people were coming from the neighbourhood. The marriage was to take place in the small chapel adjoining the house by eleven o'clock in the morning. An old clergyman had been brought to the Hall by Sir Claudius--a poor scared-looking old man--and he was to officiate. Every arrangement for the wedding had been made, a trousseau provided for me and an elderly man found to give me away. The sisters of Sir Claudius were to be my bridesmaids, and children were to scatter flowers before me as I walked to and from the chapel. I thought that I looked ghastly and quite plain-looking as I surveyed myself in a mirror, in my wedding-dress of white satin embroidered with gold, and a headdress and veil of costly lace, before the ceremony, but felt no regret on that account. Sleepless nights, a poor appetite and troubled thoughts are not calculated to enhance beauty, and I should have rejoiced if the sight of me had frightened away my unloved bridegroom. The latter, dressed in a doublet of black velvet, embroidered with gold and various other adornments, looked coarser and more vulgar than ever. He strutted about, staring at people to see if they admired him and his bride. 'Did you ever see any one like her?' he said in a loud whisper to more than one of his companions. 'Beautiful as an angel, isn't she? And she is mine, mine, mine! And she is very much in love with me,' he had the audacity to add. 'Oh, yes, very much in love with me!' The last time he said this was when he was waiting, with his best man, in the prettily decorated chapel. I overheard him as I walked up the aisle, leaning on the man's arm who was to play the part of father and give me away. Then, for a moment, I awoke out of the stupor in which I was plunged while acting my part mechanically, and, raising my eyes, looked reproachfully at Sir Claudius. He shifted his eyes uneasily, and, with a sudden realization of what I was doing, I looked keenly around for some way of escape. I had prayed so very much that a way of escape would be opened for me out of the terrible tangle into which my life had got. Surely there must be some way of escape. The little building was packed with the guests, the followers and the servants of Sir Claudius; behind me stood his sisters, my jailer-bridesmaids; before me was my enemy, soon to be transformed into my husband, unless by some bold stroke I could now, at the eleventh hour, avert the coming calamity. At that moment I perceived the lad Saul, standing by a door, watching me with eager eyes out of an almost colourless face, and as I looked at him I saw his lips saying, 'Wait,' though no sound fell from them.