“I only hope, my lord, that when you _do_ get married you’ll find somebody half as beautiful,” retorted the saucy elf. “There, you’ll do; now go, for they are all waiting, and the parson is ready to pronounce the banns.” Lord Carrol felt very uneasy, but he offered his arm to Josephine again, and her hand fell upon it, white and soft as a snow-flake. They passed out into the great ball-room and paused under the green arch, while murmurs of surprise and admiration greeted them from every side, for the addition of the lace shawl to Josephine’s already charming toilet had greatly enhanced her appearance. Two or three young girls, led by Minnie Shelton, advanced and took their station by her side to act as bride-maids, and then Lord Henderson, clad in a long white robe improvised for the occasion, came forward and read the marriage service. When the ring was called for, the gay girl who had planned all this reached behind the bride and tucked one into Lord Carrol’s hand. He was strangely impressed, a feeling of awe, a chill, creeping over him as he felt it and thought of its significance. But he took it and put it on the finger of the mock bride, repeating, “with this ring I wed thee, and all my goods endow thee,” feeling as if he were going through a mockery almost too horrible to endure. Josephine, too, trembled visibly, while the hand that he held was as cold as ice. She would have given the world to have been able to control herself, for she feared that the company would suspect something of the tumult in her heart, but she could not. However, when the ceremony was over, the gay crowd came forward, brimming with mirth, and in the jollity that followed, these impressions in a measure passed away. There were laughter and compliment on every lip, shaking of hands and congratulation on every side, until at length Minnie Shelton put a stop to it by coming forward and saying: “The musicians are all ready, Lord Carrol; you’ll have to dance the first quadrille with your bride; I’ll claim you for the second. Hasn’t it been a lovely wedding, though?—just as if it had been real, you know—and we’ve had all the fun without any flurry. My!” perking her restless head on one side and eying Josephine out of her bright eyes like some pretty bird, “don’t I hope I may make as charming a bride when somebody comes to marry me!” There was a general laugh at this sally, for Miss Minnie was a favorite with everybody. “Now come, please; and, Lord Henderson, if you have no objection, I’d like you for a partner, and we will be the happy couple’s _vis a vis_.” Without waiting for his consent, she slipped her little hand within his arm and led him along after Lord Carrol and Josephine, who could do nothing but obey her commands. CHAPTER XXXVIII. “I HAVE BEEN MAD.”