"If the children weren't looking at us, I should kiss you," he observed, with a suggestive glance at her smiling lips.
"I'm sure you would!" she rejoined--"For an 'old' bachelor, John, you are quite an adept at that kind of thing!"
Here the little village dancers slackened the speed of their tripping measure and moved slowly round and round, allowing the garlands and ribbons to drop from their hands one by one against the May-pole, as they sang in softer tones-"The moon shines bright, and the stars give light, A little before it is day, So God bless you all, both great and small, And send you a merrie May!"
Ceasing at this, they all gathered in one group and burst out into an ecstatic roar.
"Hurra! Three cheers for Passon!"
"Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!"
"Three cheers for Miss Vancourt!"
"Hurra!" But here there was a pause. Some one was obstructing the wave of enthusiasm. Signs of mixed scuffling were apparent,--when all suddenly the bold voice of Bob Keeley cried out: "Not a bit of it! Three cheers for Missis Passon!"
Shouts of laughter followed this irreverent proposal, together with much whooping and cheering as never was. Ipsie Frost, who of course was present, no village revel being considered complete without her, was dancing recklessly all by herself on the grass, chirping in her baby voice a ballad of her own contriving which ran thus: "Daisies white, violets blue, Cowslips yellow,--and I loves 'oo!
Little bird's nest Up in a tree, Spring's comin',--and 'Oo loves me!"
And it was after Ipsie that Maryllia ran, to cover her smiles and blushes as the echo of the children's mirth pealed through the garden,--and with the pretty blue-eyed little creature clinging to her hand, she came back again sedately, with all her own winsome and fairy-like stateliness to thank them for their good wishes.
"They mean it so well, John!" she said afterwards, when the youngsters, still laughing and cheering, had gone away with their crowned symbol of the dawning spring--"and they love you so much! I never knew of any man that was loved so much by so many people in one little place as you are, John! And to be loved by all the children is a great thing;--I think--of course I cannot be quite sure--but I think it is an exceptional thing--for a clergyman!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * With rose-crowned June, the rose-window in the church of St. Rest was filled in and completed. Maryllia had found all the remaining ancient stained glass that had been needed to give the finishing touch to its beauty, and the loveliest deep gem-like hues shone through the carven apertures like rare jewels in a perfect setting. The rays of light filtering through them were wonderful and mystical,--such as might fall from the pausing wings of some great ministering angel,--and under the blaze of splendid colour, the white sarcophagus with its unknown 'Saint' asleep, lay steeped in soft folds of crimson and azure, gold and amethyst, while even the hollow notches in the sculptured word 'Resurget' seemed filled with delicate tints like those painted by old-world monks on treasured missals. And presently one morning came,--warm with the breath of summer, sunny and beautiful,--when the window was solemnly re- consecrated by Bishop Brent at ten o'clock,--a consecration followed by the loud and joyous ringing of the bells, and a further sacred ceremony,--the solemnisation of matrimony between John Walden and Maryllia Vancourt. All the village swarmed out like a hive of bees from their honey-cells to see their 'Passon' married. Hundreds of honest and affectionate eyes looked love on the bride, as clad in the simplest of simple white gowns, with a plain white veil draping her from head to foot, she came walking to the church across the warm clover-scented fields, like any village maid, straight from the Manor, escorted only by Cicely, her one bridesmaid. At the churchyard gate, she was met by all the youngest girls of the school, arrayed in white, who, carrying rush baskets full of wild flowers, scattered them before her as she moved,--and when she arrived at the church porch, she was followed by the little child Ipsie, whose round fair cherub-like face reflected one broad smile of delight, and who carried between her two tiny hands a basket full to overflowing of old French damask roses, red as the wine-glow of a summer sunset. The church was crowded,--not only by villagers but by county folks,--for everyone from near or far that could be present at what they judged to be a 'strange' wedding--namely a wedding for love and love alone--had mustered in force for the occasion. One or two had stayed away from a certain sense of discrepancy in themselves, to which it is needless to refer. Sir Morton Pippitt was among these. He felt,--but what he felt is quite immaterial. And so far as his daughter was concerned, she, as Bainton expressed it, had 'gone a' visitin'.' The Ittlethwaites, of Ittlethwaite Park, in all the glory of their Magnum Chartus forebears were present, as were the Mandeville-Porehams--while to Julian Adderley was given the honour of being Walden's 'best man.' He, as the music of the wedding voluntary poured from the organ, through the flower-scented air, wondered doubtfully whether poetic inspiration would ever assist him in such wise as to enable him to express in language the exquisite sweetness of Maryllia's face, as, standing beside the man whose tender and loyal love she was surer of than any other possession in this world she repeated in soft accents the vow: "to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey till death do us part!"