“It was little more than 10 o’clock that night; Edward had been with me during the evening, but had just returned to his ship, and Mr. and Mrs. Denham had retired to rest, for they kept early hours; I was sitting in the parlor, reading a beautiful book, a present from Agnes, when I heard steps coming up the gravel walk, and a murmur of voices in earnest conversation.  I peeped through the half-closed blind, and beheld Miss Wiltshire arm in arm with a gentleman, whom I took to be, though I could not see very distinctly, Mr. Bernard.

“In a moment after they entered, and sure enough it was Mr. Bernard, though every trace of sadness had disappeared from his face, and as he came forward and shook hands with me, asking me so kindly how I was, his very voice seemed altered, it was so gay, so joyous.  I tried to catch a glimpse of Miss Agnes’s countenance,—­it was some time before she lifted her veil, but when she flung it aside, as she took off her bonnet, I saw that her former paleness had been succeeded by a rosy-red, and her eyes seemed beaming with new life.

“We sat and talked for some time, at least Mr. Bernard and I, for Miss Wiltshire was unusually silent.

“At length he took his leave, but as he clasped her hand, and bade her ‘Good night,’ I heard him say in a low tone, ’I shall see Mr. Denham, if nothing happens, early to-morrow morning,’—­and so departed.

“We soon separated for the night, and I heard nothing until the next day, when Agnes told me all the particulars.

“It seems there had been a mistake all round; Mr. Bernard having believed that Mr. Clifford was his rival, and Miss Wiltshire imagined, from something some lady told—­Maria as they called her, I heard her other name, but forget it—­that Mr. Bernard had been paying her very great attention, and had almost, if not actually, proposed for her hand.

“There was not a word of truth in that, of course; but this Maria, it seems, was determined to have the young gentleman, and did not care what she said or did, if she could only secure him.

“But it came out right, after all; Providence is always good to those that trust Him, and so, just a week ago to-day, for we sailed immediately after the wedding, they were married, and Mr. Clifford at the same time.”

“But who did Mr. Clifford marry?” inquired one of the deeply interested listeners.

“Mr. Bernard’s sister, a sweet pretty young creature, with eyes as blue as a summer’s sky.  And such a sight it was to see the two brides; both dressed alike in white satin, with orange blossoms in their hair, and white veils on the back of the head, falling over their shoulders like a mantle.  It was so strange, too, that the clergyman who married them, and who was a great friend of Miss Wiltshire’s, had been a passenger in the very steamer from which she had so narrow an escape; he had embarked in another boat, and with the rest of the male passengers had got safe to land.  A short time before her wedding, Agnes met him in the street, just after his arrival from some distant part, and she said, she did not know which was the greatest, his joy or surprise at seeing her, for he had never heard of her wonderful preservation, and had not, therefore, the most distant idea she was in the land of the living.