She did not yield him her lips—she did not even leave him her hand, but shuddered and coldly withdrew herself.
David Lindsay turned deadly pale.
The priest and the witnesses looked surprised. Such an exhibition of unkindness, not to say rudeness, they had never seen in all their experience.
“Come into the vestry, if you please,” then said the priest.
David Lindsay, struck to the heart by his bride’s repulsion, recovered himself by an effort, drew her arm within his own and followed the clergyman.
The two sacristans and the three witnesses brought up the rear.
The parish register lay open on the table.
The newly married pair were now required to sign their names.
David Lindsay steadied himself and wrote his in clear characters.
Gloria’s hand shook so in her attempt to write that the scratches and blotches she made might have meant anything or nothing.