“Oh, yes! I have heard a great deal about Mr. Saunders, only I did not know where exactly his hut was. There are so many of them, you know!” said the girl, somewhat recovered, and much interested.
“My dearest Zuleime! we will go down to that hut! ‘I see by the smoke, that so gracefully curls,’ that the old man is at home. We will tell him the whole story, as far as we know it, and get him to raise that required insurmountable obstacle!”
“Oh! Frank!” exclaimed Zuleime, shocked, delighted, terrified, overjoyed.
“But, my dearest Zuleime! my dearest love! I have recorded an oath in Heaven, to save you from that marriage with Cabell! And I will never leave you until you are my wife. If you refuse NOW, I will throw up my commission in the army, and live there in that hut with the old parson, until you do consent!”
“But, my father, Frank! My dear father!”
“Dearest girl, he will be glad!” Here Frank went over the whole story again, and added—“And Zuleime, have you no love, no pity left from your father to bestow upon the poor soldier who loves you so, and who is going out to the Indian frontier, where he may lose his scalp, or be burned alive, or eaten raw within a month by the red-skins? Will you refuse his last prayer?” etc., etc., etc. Over and over again, fervently, earnestly, imploringly, despairingly he repeated the argument and the prayer, while he held the maiden “half willing, half afraid.” “She who hesitates is lost,” it is said.
Zuleime hesitated a long time, and, consequently, was lost to all eternity. What could she oppose, indeed, to what seemed so right and reasonable? With a deep sigh she yielded at last. There was no path that way down into the glen, and the descent was deep and precipitous, and overgrown with stunted cedar, pine and thorn bushes. So, Romeo and Juliet began to clamber down, by foot-holds of jagged rocks, and fist-holds of thorn bushes, to the great risk of wounded hands and torn pants and petticoats. And so it was in rather a disordered state of attire, as well as in an excited state of mind, that they at last arrived before the door of Father Lawrence’s cell, and rapped. While they waited for the old man to appear, Frank, very much to the surprise of Zuleime, drew from his vest pocket a license—a regular bona fide license, signed by the clerk of R—— county, and sealed with the county seal. Resting his foot upon the door-step, he took off his hat, turned it down on his knee, laid the license upon its top, and drawing from his other pocket a travelling pen and ink case, proceeded to write the names of Francis Rutland Fairfax and Zuleime Dovilliers Clifton in the blank spaces.
“You look surprised, my dearest girl,” said he, as he returned the pen and ink case to his pocket. “You wonder how I came by this license? I will tell you. I have it by a stroke of the rarest good fortune. You know, being groomsman, I was entrusted with the duty of riding to L——, and procuring the marriage license for Archer and your sister. Well! when I arrived at the clerk’s office, by the strangest caprice of memory, I entirely forgot Miss Clifton’s middle name; so I got the clerk to give me one license filled out with the names of Carolyn Clifton and Archer Clifton, and then knowing how extremely punctilious you all are here, in this county, I procured another license regularly signed and sealed, but leaving blank spaces for the proper names of the parties! There, darling! that is the manner in which I came by it! Now, this blank one I fill up with our names, which I really think look quite as pretty as the others would! As for Clifton and your sister, if they want a license, they will have to put up with the first, which I will hand to Archer as soon as we get to Hardbargain. Bless my soul! what has become of that old man?” he exclaimed, rapping loudly, then trying the door and pushing it open. The house was empty. Frank looked dismally disappointed, but Zuleime plucked him by the sleeve, and whispered, hurriedly—
“Here he comes—behind you!”
And he turned to see the old preacher coming from the spring, bending under the light weight of a small pail of water. Frank immediately went to him, greeted him respectfully, and took from his hand the pail, and carrying it, walked by his side, till they reached the house. Lieutenant Fairfax then introduced himself by name and station, and presented Miss Zuleime Clifton. The old man bowed and offered his hand, with a courtly grace, in strange contrast to his rude garb and rough habitation. He invited them to come in and sit down. And when they had entered, and Zuleime was seated, Frank took the old man aside, communicated the object of their call, and produced his license. The old man glanced from the earnest countenance of Frank to the blushing, downcast face of Zuleime, shook his bald head, and looked very grave.