Woman As She Should Be Part 11

Denham had retired to rest, for they kept early hours; I was sitting in the parlor, reading a beautiful book, a present from Agnes, when I heard steps coming up the gravel walk, and a murmur of voices in earnest conversation. I peeped through the half-closed blind, and beheld Miss Wiltshire arm in arm with a gentleman, whom I took to be, though I could not see very distinctly, Mr. Bernard.

"In a moment after they entered, and sure enough it was Mr. Bernard, though every trace of sadness had disappeared from his face, and as he came forward and shook hands with me, asking me so kindly how I was, his very voice seemed altered, it was so gay, so joyous. I tried to catch a glimpse of Miss Agnes's countenance,--it was some time before she lifted her veil, but when she flung it aside, as she took off her bonnet, I saw that her former paleness had been succeeded by a rosy-red, and her eyes seemed beaming with new life.

"We sat and talked for some time, at least Mr. Bernard and I, for Miss Wiltshire was unusually silent.

"At length he took his leave, but as he clasped her hand, and bade her 'Good night,' I heard him say in a low tone, 'I shall see Mr. Denham, if nothing happens, early to-morrow morning,'--and so departed.

"We soon separated for the night, and I heard nothing until the next day, when Agnes told me all the particulars.

"It seems there had been a mistake all round; Mr. Bernard having believed that Mr. Clifford was his rival, and Miss Wiltshire imagined, from something some lady told--Maria as they called her, I heard her other name, but forget it--that Mr. Bernard had been paying her very great attention, and had almost, if not actually, proposed for her hand.

"There was not a word of truth in that, of course; but this Maria, it seems, was determined to have the young gentleman, and did not care what she said or did, if she could only secure him.

"But it came out right, after all; Providence is always good to those that trust Him, and so, just a week ago to-day, for we sailed immediately after the wedding, they were married, and Mr. Clifford at the same time."

"But who did Mr. Clifford marry?" inquired one of the deeply interested listeners.

"Mr. Bernard's sister, a sweet pretty young creature, with eyes as blue as a summer's sky. And such a sight it was to see the two brides; both dressed alike in white satin, with orange blossoms in their hair, and white veils on the back of the head, falling over their shoulders like a mantle. It was so strange, too, that the clergyman who married them, and who was a great friend of Miss Wiltshire's, had been a pa.s.senger in the very steamer from which she had so narrow an escape; he had embarked in another boat, and with the rest of the male pa.s.sengers had got safe to land. A short time before her wedding, Agnes met him in the street, just after his arrival from some distant part, and she said, she did not know which was the greatest, his joy or surprise at seeing her, for he had never heard of her wonderful preservation, and had not, therefore, the most distant idea she was in the land of the living.

"Well, as soon as it was over, and they stepped out of the church, the joy bells rang out, so merrily, and every person looked so pleased and so happy. There was a grand lunch at Mr. Denham's, and then the bridal party drove away to spend the honeymoon in travelling."

"Well, she deserved a good husband, and I trust she has got one," said Mrs. Williamson, as Ellen paused to take breath, "and I pray that Heaven may bless them both!"

"Amen," was the hearty response of the listeners, a response which, we trust, kind reader, you will have no hesitation in echoing.

The wish of Ellen, which she gave expression to, as she narrated her visit, unlike most earthly wishes, was, in the s.p.a.ce of a year or two, abundantly realized.

Through the instrumentality of Agnes and her devoted husband, a neat little church was erected; a school-house quickly followed; a minister and teacher were obtained; the people, stimulated by their example, rebuilt and improved their dwellings; began to cultivate their land, and that with such success, that fruit and flowers, and shady trees, and fields of waving grain, were, in a comparatively short time, to be seen in every direction, so that with regard to those changes, and the instrumentality through which they had been effected, it is little wonder that Mrs. Williamson, as she pointed them out to her family, would now and then exclaim,--

"The wilderness and the solitary place were made glad by her, and the desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose."

Verily Agnes Bernard has her reward now, in the enjoyments which cl.u.s.ter so thickly around her; in the happiness of which she is at once the dispenser and partaker; but how greatly shall it be increased, when, from a Saviour's lips, shall be heard the welcome plaudit:--

"Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these, ye did it unto me."