to him in trust and love, and then betrays that life to misery, all Nature arrays itself in opposition and disaster.  We, as observers of the great Play of human existence, may not at once see, among the numerous shifting scenes, where the evil-doer is punished, or the good man rewarded,—­but wait till the end!—­till the drop-curtain falls—­and we shall see that there is no mistake in God’s plan—­no loophole left for breaking faith even with a child,—­no ‘permit’ existing anywhere to destroy the life of the soul by so much as one false or cruel word!  It is with a deep sense of the exact balance of God’s justice, that I stand before you to-day, my friends, and ask you without any accepted ritual or ceremonial to hear my vows of marriage.  She to whom I pledge my word and life, is one who in the world’s eyes is accounted great, because rich in this world’s goods,—­but her wealth has no attraction for me, and for my own self I would rather she had been poor.  Nevertheless, were she even greater than she is,—­a crowned queen with many kingdoms under her control, and I but the poorest of her servants, nothing could undo the love we have for each other,—­nothing could keep our lives asunder!  Love and love only is our bond of union—­sympathy of mind and heart and spirit; wealth and rank would have been but causes of division between us if love had not been greater.  The world will tell you differently—­the world will say that I have married for money—­but you who know me better than the world, will feel by my very words addressed to you to-day that my marriage is a true marriage, in which no grosser element than love can enter.  My wife’s wealth remains her own—­settled upon her absolutely and always, and I am personally as poor as when I first came among you and proved to you that hard work was a familiar friend.  But I am rich in the possession of the helpmate God has given me, and with the utmost gratitude and humility I ask you to bear witness to the fact that this day before you and in the presence of the symbol of the Christian faith, I take my oath to be true to her and only her while life shall last!”

Here going to where Sylvie stood, he took her by the hand, and led her to the front of the platform.  Then he turned again to his eager and expectant audience.

“In your presence, my friends, and in the presence of God and before the Cross, I take Sylvie Hermenstein to be my wedded wife!  I swear to devote myself to her, body and soul,—­to cherish her first and last of all human creatures,—­to be true to her in thought, word and deed,—­to care for her in sickness as in health, in age as in youth,—­to honour her as my chiefest good,—­and to die faithful to her in this world,—­hoping by the mercy of God to complete a more perfect union with her in the world to come!  In the name of Christ, Amen!”

And then Sylvie threw back her veil and turned her enchanting face upon the crowd,—­a face fairer than ever, irradiated by the love and truth of her soul,—­and the people gazed and wondered, and wondering held their breath as her clear accents rang through the silence.