I shall not attempt to describe the joy which our unexpected arrival produced; suffice it to say that the whole household, not excluding even my reverend father and my revered mother, behaved as though they had suddenly taken leave of their senses; and it was not until toward evening that anything approaching to calm settled down upon the party.
Then, of course, I had to tell the story of my voyage upon the raft, and of the incidents which followed it; a mere outline only having been written home by the skipper, the circumstance of my insanity being altogether suppressed; and then, equally as a matter of course, there were tears and murmured expressions of tender pity and so on, all of which can be a great deal better imagined than described.
Captain Annesley remained with us three days, at the end of which, after a hotly-contested action, Florrie hauled down her colours, and agreed that the wedding should take place on that day month. Then my uncle—or great-uncle rather—Sir Peregrine, came down to see me, our family physician expressing a decided opinion that the noise and bustle of town would be injurious to me, and I had to fight all my battles over again for his benefit.
Then, as soon as they could be got together, an army of dressmakers and milliners was brought into the house, and Sir Peregrine and I were driven by them from room to room, until at length we were driven out of the house altogether; the building being, almost from basement to roof-tree, crowded with silks, muslins, ribbons, flowers, and every other imaginable species of frippery affected by the gentler sex.
And very soon the wedding presents began to pour in; the carrier’s cart rumbling up to the rectory door daily and discharging parcels and packets, hampers, cases, crates, and goodness knows what; so that at length I began to dream at night that the rectory was an Indiaman taking in cargo, and that there was not stowage for it all.
Then Sir Peregrine rushed off to town early one morning, without acquainting anybody with his intention, returning on the day but one following with his pockets crammed full of small parcels, which he conveyed with much secrecy up to his own room.
It was then my turn; and accordingly away I went in the same unexpected manner—surprises and secrecy appearing to be the order of the day just then,—returning home in due time with my humble offering to the blooming bride.
At length the eventful week arrived in which the wedding was to take place; and from early on the Monday morning—the wedding was fixed for Wednesday—all the young girls of the village seemed to have become possessed with the idea that our garden was public property, and passed in and out, helping themselves with the utmost sang-froid to what few early spring flowers there were, and as much greenery as they could carry—no one saying them nay. And I could not help noticing, as a somewhat unusual circumstance, that whenever I passed the noble old church its doors were sure to be open, and somebody passing in or out.
Tuesday evening came, and with it came the impatient bridegroom. The rectory was by that time turned upside-down, inside-out, and goodness knows what else in the shape of confusion; so that, in sheer desperation, Sir Peregrine and I were at last driven to betake ourselves and poor Annesley—who had almost to be carried off by force, he having had no opportunity for anything more than a hasty word or two with Florrie—to the snug little inn where the skipper was to find quarters that night. My father looked longingly after us, as we retreated through the front door, but, poor man, he was a prisoner with hard labour that night, and there was no escape for him.
By daybreak next morning the whole house was astir, and, oh! the babel of sound and confusion that reigned therein. I was to act the part of best man, and, as far as I could understand it, my principal duty seemed to be to fix myself to the groom like a sucking-fish, and never allow him to have a moment to himself, or the slightest particle of peace. He was more excited than I had ever before seen him, and between us we made such a flusteration in that otherwise quiet little hostelry as I imagine its inmates will never forget. It was arranged that we should breakfast together and afterwards go in the same carriage—a distance of two or three cable’s lengths at most—to church; and I have no reason to doubt that we carried out the arrangement; but neither of us is to this day prepared to swear, from our own recollection, that we did so.