There was a pause, but no interruption on this occasion—a short pause, and then the solemn, pathetic, beautiful benediction was pronounced upon the newly married and indeed happy pair.
And then Leonidas took his bride by her hand, to give her the sacred, sealing kiss, when—before his lips could meet hers—he was suddenly seized from behind and violently hurled to the other end of the room.
CHAPTER XIV
A MEAN RETALIATION
Revenge is now my joy. She’s not for me,
And I’ll make sure, she ne’er shall be for thee.
—Dryden.
The intruder was Col. Angus Anglesea, who caught Odalite to his breast, and with his arm firmly clasping her waist, stood, haughty, insolent and defiant, in the midst of the thunderstruck group.
A scene of indescribable confusion followed. The bride fainted, the bridesmaids shrieked, the old minister dropped his book, and fell back in the nearest chair, in a state bordering on apoplexy.
The men, panic-stricken by amazement for a moment, now pressed forward.
Anglesea glared at them.