Page:Between Two Loves.djvu/297

292 Nelly that no dress could make her look prettier than the one she had on; but she answered with a bewitching little nod, "Wait and see." So that night Ben got, quite unconsciously, his first lesson in marital obedience. He was obliged to wait, not a day, nor a week, but a whole month, a month during which he admitted to Jonas Shuttleworth, the world seemed upside down to him.

Shuttleworth laughed. Old as he was, he had not quite outgrown some youthful sympathies, and he took Ben's proposed marriage in a way Ben had hardly expected.

"There's two things I like about thy wedding, Ben," he said, "one is, thou hast built thy nest before thou went a-mating. Second is, thou hes chosen a bird of thy own feather. Bless thee, lad! Marrying is easy enough, it is house-keeping that's hard, and thou would hev found it partic'larly hard if ta had gone after a line lady to do it for thee."

At length the wonderful day, Ben's wedding-day, arrived. The ceremony was, to be performed on Sunday morning, and Ben was to wait in the chapel the arrival of his bride. He managed somehow to get through his Sunday