He was muttering to himself, in a satisfied sort of tone (a habit he had recently acquired), at the smooth way his plans were working. “One scene more in this drama, and my revenge will be complete, and then I will rest awhile!” he said. Ah! thou soulless reprobate! Several scenes more will pass before your gaze ere you shall take your rest! There was a sudden hush as Father Francis (as he was called) passed slowly from his seat to the foot of the altar. Faint and trembling the tones fell from his lips as he began the ceremony, and Ralph Moulton felt himself shudder, and his flesh creep, as they floated up through space, and died away in the lofty, brilliantly gemmed vault above them. The demand came forth, solemnly and fearfully. “Wilt thou take her whom you hold by the hand to be your true and lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor, and cherish while life doth last?” “I will!” Then, with a tear moistening his sunken eye, the holy man turned to the cold, white statue leaning on Ralph’s arm. “Will you take him who stands by your side to be your true and lawful husband, to love, honor, and obey until death doth part you?” The hush of death was on the air, an awful stillness reigned, while the clergyman waited for the expected response. It came not; the white lips moved not—the pale eyelids did not even quiver, and the bosom scarcely fluttered! Ralph Moulton might have been wedded to a marble statue, for all the reply that could be gained from that calm, cold creature at his side. He scowled angrily; he grasped the hand he held with such cruel force that at any other time she would have fainted with the pain. All to no purpose, however, for not a muscle moved, not a sound or motion escaped her, that could be construed into a token of either assent or refusal. Again the voice of the priest rang out; this time full and clear, almost with a note of warning in its tones—— “Does any one here present know any reason why the banns of matrimony should not be sealed between these two? If so, in the name of Heaven I command you, speak.” It was an awful moment! The clergyman raised his clear eyes with an air of almost inspired authority, and scanned every face before him. But not a glance answered his, every orb drooped before his earnest, thrilling gaze, and every face wore a look of conscious guilt. Each and every one realized the sacrilegiousness of the act, and those who would have answered that solemn appeal dared not; and in that breathless, voiceless silence the fatal, mocking words were spoken, the holy man himself shuddering as he uttered them. “I pronounce you husband and wife; and what God has joined together let not man put asunder!” A startling, piercing, horrible shriek instantly followed, and that white-robed form dropped senseless at Ralph Moulton’s feet. “Hold!” thundered a deep, full voice. “I forbid the banns!”