“Yes, I will go!” sobbed the good woman; “but it shall be down there.”
CHAPTER LVII.
IN HASTE FOR THE WEDDING.
Miss Ellen Post was taking in the waist of Miss Spicer’s white silk dress, and had altered the trimming till it really seemed as good as new. Miss Spicer, herself, had come down into the servants’ parlor to examine the effect, and had brought from her own room a quantity of tulle scarcely the worse for wear, which had once covered a trained over-dress, but was quite fresh enough for the wedding veil; especially as the breadths were joined neatly by a white wreath, which had been beautifully freshened up for the occasion.
Some deeper anxiety than the wedding dress had evidently brought the young heiress into the servants’ department, for she pushed aside a mass of silk tulle and fragments of lace from a couch which stood near the expectant bride, and seemed to prepare herself for a conversation of some length.
Miss Post was very busy with the bridal veil, and threw her whole energies so completely into the pleasant task, that she had little attention to bestow even on the young lady who had honored her by a visit, and from whom she expected so much.
Thus Miss Spicer was compelled to begin the subject that was resting heavily on her mind, without help from the waiting maid.
“You are quite sure, Ellen, that there is no mistake about the arrests,” she said, at length.
Miss Post was holding up the wreath from which a cloud of tulle floated to the floor, and did not answer for half a minute, but she spoke at last.
“Sure, Miss Spicer, of course I am. The young man, Boyce, came round and told us the minute it was done. They first took up the boy, then walked the old woman off between two policemen. Boyce waited to see it done, then come to inform Mr. Mahone, who is anxious beyond anything, knowing that our wedding depends on their being safely locked in prison.”
“Your wedding, Ellen, pray what has that to do with it?” questioned Miss Spicer, who was not entirely informed of the wheels within wheels which revolved in the kitchen department.