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214 nothing in it to reassure her; while Buckingham’s gaiety jarred upon her ear, and his jest and flattery were equally unacceptable. "I have been at merrier funerals," said the Duke of Buckingham, as he turned from the bridal party: "if the mere semblance of the fetters be so melancholy, the Lord have mercy upon those who endure them in reality!" It was with a mixture of pleasure and pain that Rebecca re-entered the home she had left under such different circumstances; for De Vere had fixed on the old mansion-house for their future dwelling. "For the present, love, we will live in complete retirement: I care little, while the wonder of our marriage," and he hesitated, "is fresh in men’s minds, to endure the questions of the curious, or the comment of the envious." Rebecca pressed closer to her heart the arm on which she hung; and her silence was more eloquent of happiness than any words. I have ever remarked, that when Fate has any great misfortune in store, it is always preceded by a brief period of calm and sunshine—as if to add bitterness of contrast to all other misery. It is for the happy to tremble—it is over their heads that the thunderbolt is about to burst. Rebecca lived for a few months in all the deep content of love—every look watched, every thought partaken, her heart was filled with thankfulness and affection.