Mr. Wendell was in a coat of milk-white broad-cloth, with nether garments of white satin, and paste knee-buckles; and a white satin waistcoat flowered with silver, in the button-hole of which was placed a large bouquet of hyacinths, which Amy had coaxed to bloom for the occasion. A chapeau-bras held under his arm completed his equipments.
It was a raw and disagreeable day in this least pleasant of the seasons in New England; with an east wind—which sourest and most ill-tempered of the children of Eolus usually blows on the seacoast from the beginning of April until the end of May, and oftentimes encroaching far into June. By a miracle the bride did not catch a cold. On the second Sunday she wore her second suit, a rose-colored damask, and on the third a straw-colored paduasoy; each week “sitting up for company” every day, with her attendants, in the afternoon for ladies, and in the evening for gentlemen, drest in the habiliments she wore on the Sunday beginning the week. These indispensable ceremonies were usually performed under the roof of the bride’s parent or guardian; after which the new-married pair took possession of their own house. That of Mr. and Mrs. Wendell, as will be seen presently, was situated at a very short distance from Mr. Fayerweather’s, where Amy still spent the greater part of her time.
The other event of importance that took place during George’s two years of probation was the obtaining of a quit-claim by Mr. Fayerweather from Jemmy and Nanny Boynton. This he had obtained through the assistance of his new nephew, Mr. Wendell, and without paying more than one third more than it was worth. After securing this deed or quit-claim the kind uncle converted Boynton’s house and his old ware-house, which stood near it, into a pretty residence for the young married couple, in order, as he said, to have Cousin Amy still under his own wing. As soon as the important negotiation with the Boyntons was concluded, Mr. Fayerweather came with all possible haste to make the joyful communication to the family. As he laid the document in triumph on the table he said,
“There, my dear, I have got the quit-claim at last from the Boyntons. The land is all our own now.”
On hearing these words, madam aroused herself from a deep reverie and exclaimed,
“La! Mr. Fayerweather, you don’t say so; how thankful I am. How did you prevail on them?”
“Oh, Wendell and I were too strong for them; though Nanny, I believe, would still have held on if I had not offered a good deal more than I had intended; and she was not satisfied after all; but I don’t care, I have the deed, and now we shall be rid of them.”
The two lads, who were laying their heads together at the window, and planning, it is to be feared, some mischief, started up in a transport—
“Then we’ll have a bonfire out in the field to-night, as high as the house, in spite of them,” cried John, “to-night’s Gunpowder Treason.”
“Yes,” added George, “and we’ll burn Jemmy for Pope; I know a capital way to get his old wig.”