Nellie stopped an instant to press a kiss upon the clammy brow of her friend, and then hastened to do her bidding.
A few minutes after, the door opened, and Ralph Houston entered, reverently supporting the pale but self-controlled maiden on his arm, and accompanied by his father, stepmother, and the doctor.
They approached the bed, and grouped themselves around it. On the right side stood Ralph, Margaret, and Mr. Wellworth; on the left, Colonel and Mrs. Houston and Dr. Hartley.
The dying woman turned her dark eyes from one group to the other, and then spoke.
“We sent for you, Mr. Wellworth, to join the hands of this young pair—not in marriage, for which one of them is much too youthful; but in a solemn betrothal, that shall possess all the sanctity, if not the legal force of marriage. Will you do this?”
“I will do everything in my power to serve Mrs. Helmstedt or her family,” said the clergyman.
“Margaret, my love, draw this ring from my finger, and hand it to Mr. Wellworth, who will give it to Ralph,” said Mrs. Helmstedt, holding out her thin, transparent hand, from the fourth finger of which Margaret drew the plain gold circlet, her mother’s wedding ring, and passed it to the minister, who put it in the hand of Ralph Houston. Then the dying woman turned her solemn eyes upon Mr. Houston, and in a voice thrilling with the depth and strength of a mother’s deathless love, said:
“Ralph Houston, you promise here, in the awful presence of God—of the living, and of the dying—to love and respect this maiden, as your destined wife, and to wed her when she shall have attained a suitable age?”
Ralph passed his arm protectingly around the half-sinking form of Margaret, and answered, slowly and solemnly:
“In the presence of God, and of her mother, I promise to love, and honor and serve, my affianced bride, Margaret, until such time as she shall bestow her hand in full marriage on me, and thenceforth forever. So help me God and all good angels.”