The thirty-first day of October, sixteen hundred ninety and ----, being the birth-day of our heroine, was the morning appointed for the solemnization of the nuptials of Sir David Bruce and the Lady Adelaide Raymond. The young lady's consent, and that of her noble parents, having been previously obtained, and also that _sine qua non_ preliminary of nuptial happiness--to wit, a marriage license, having been duly and properly procured, no obstacle to their happy union now remained. Preparations upon a grand scale had been in a progressive state of forwardness for some weeks at Tyrconnel Castle, to crown the nuptial banquet, and every delicacy and luxury that taste could select, or that money could procure, were not wanting to furnish forth the splendid marriage feast. The Duke of Tyrconnel, in order to add to the pomp and circumstance of the event, had a new state coach built for the happy bridal day, _selon des reglès_, as then the fashion of the day controlled. The carriage was connected by massive crane necks, which in our modern days of fashion have crept down and shrunk into a slender perch; these were richly carved and gilt. The wheels were of a very circumscribed orbit; and the naves were gilt, as well as the spokes. The springs likewise were of burnished gold; while the ponderous massive body, with shape (if it could so be called) which much more, in sooth, resembled a city barge abducted from its natural element, and aided by wheels in its terrestrial progressions; or perhaps as cumbersome, although not as unsightly, as a French diligence--but assuredly not to be compared with the present modern _turn-out_ of a nobleman. Ducal coronets of brass, richly embossed and gilt, adorned and surrounded the four angles of the roof of the state carriage. A splendidly embroidered hammer-cloth mantled the coach-box, which was destined to glitter in the last rays of a brilliant October sun, upon this ever-memorable day, and to glance forth the rich emblazoned quarterings of the noble houses of Tyrconnel and O'Nial. The superb liveries of the domestics were neither overlooked nor forgotten upon this happy occasion; they were indeed truly magnificent; they were of rich green cloth, with gold embroidery and trimming.