XXXIV. Jack's Tribulations.—They Rise Up in the very face of the Most Astonishing Good Fortunes.—For, what is like a Legacy?—And this comes to Jack!—Seven Thousand Pounds Sterling per Annum!—But what's the use of it all?—Jack comes to Grief!—Woe! Sorrow! Despair! All the Widow! —Infatuation.—A mad proposal.—A Madman, a Lunatic, an Idiot, a March Hare, and a Hatter, all rolled into one, an that one the Lucky yet Unfortunate Jack.
XXXV. "Louis!"—Platonic Friendship.—Its results.—Advice may be given too
Freely, and Consolation may be sought for too Eagerly.—Two Inflammable
Hearts should not be allowed to Come Together.—The Old, Old Story.—A
Breakdown, and the results all around.—The Condemned Criminal.—The
slow yet sure approach of the Hour of Execution.
XXXVI. A Friend's Apology for a Friend.—Jack down at the bottom of Deep
Abyss of Woe.—His Despair.—The Hour and the Man!—Where is the Woman!—A
Sacred Spot.—Old Fletcher.—The Toll of the Bell.—Meditations on each
Successive Stroke.—A wild search.—The Pretty Servant-maid, and her
Pretty Story.—Throwing Gold About.
XXXVII. My own affairs.—A Drive and how it came off.—Varying Moods.—The
Excited, the Gloomy, and the Gentlemanly.—Straying about
Montmorency.—Revisiting a memorable Scene.—Effect of said Scene.—A
Mute Appeal and an Appeal in Words.—Result of the Appeals.—"Will You
Turn Away?"—Grand Result.—Climax.—Finale.—A General Understanding
all round, and a Universal Explanation of Numerous Puzzles.
XXXVIII. Grand Conclusion.—Wedding-rings and Ball-rings.—St. Malachi's. —Old Fletcher in his glory.—No Humbug this time.—Messages sent everywhere.—All the town Agog.—Quebec on the Rampage.—St. Malachi's Crammed.—Galleries Crowded.—White Favors Everywhere.—The Widow happy with the Chaplain.—The Double Wedding.—First couple—JACK AND LOUIE! —Second ditto—MACRORIE AND MARION!—Colonel Berton and O'Halloran giving away the brides.—Strange Association of the British Officer and the Fenian.—Jack and Macrorie, Louie and Marion.—Brides and Bridegrooms.—Epithalamicm.—Wedding in high life.—Six Officiating Clergymen.—All the elite of Quebec take part.—All the Clergy, all the Military, and Everybody who amounts to any thing.—The Band of the Bobtails Discourse Sweet Music, and all that sort of thing, You Know.
THE LADY OF THE ICE.
CHAPTER I.
CONSISTING MERELY OF INTRODUCTORY MATTER.
This is a story of Quebec. Quebec is a wonderful city.
I am given to understand that the ridge on which the city is built is Laurentian; and the river that flows past it is the same. On this (not the river, you know) are strata of schist, shale, old red sand-stone, trap, granite, clay, and mud. The upper stratum is ligneous, and is found to be very convenient for pavements.