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TWA baa al dd i alle ae gigi Fearne My sabe aman: of aie
ED a hee Re Mk NE wg WET 5 pe Oe OEE out An NB igh po nll
va
2 A DREADFUL TEMPTATION.
bride was the young- daughter of some obscure country
people. . . oo
An aunt in the city had given her some advantages, and
kept her in town two seasons, hoping to bring about a good.
match for her; since she had no dowry of her own, save —
youth, talent and peerless beauty. o
“« And what is your fortune, my pretty maid?”
“My face is my fortune, sir,” she said. _
And Xenie Carroll was fulfilling her aunt’s ambitious
hopes and desires to their uttermost limit as she walked up
the broad aisle of Trinity that night, clothed in her bridal —
white, and leaning on the arm of the decrepit old millionaire,
John St. John. ; oy _
His form was:bent with age, his hair, and beard were
white, his eyes were dim and _bleared; and she was in the
'.
bloom of youth and beauty. It wastheunionof winterand =~
summer. ted i
They passed slowly up the ‘aisle’ to the grand music of
the wedding-march, and after them came fair maidens,
robed in white and adorned with flowers and jewels.
These stood round about the pair-at the altar who were —
taking upon their lips the sacred vow of marriage. | es
It was over. . wy : fe
The holy man of God lifted reverent hands and invoked
God's blessing upon this sordid bargain that desecrated the
holy rite of marriage, the ring was slipped over the bride’s ~
white finger, and Xenie Carroll turned away from the altar
Mrs. John St. John, mistress of the handsomest house in th
city and the most princely private fortune. __
There was a flash of triumph in her dark. eyes as she re-
ceived the congratulations of her friends, yet her cheeks
and lips were cold and whiteas marble...
But the light. and color came back to-her_ beautiful face
when, inthe same carriage that had taken. her from her
aunt’s roof a poor, dependent girl, she was whirled back to
the, millionaire’s splendid home to take her place as its
queen. ‘|
The aged bridegroom scarcely felt equal to an extended
bridal. tour, so he had wisely eschewed a trip, and deter-.
mined to inaugurate the reign of the new social star by a
brilliant reception at his splendid residence.
All the beauties of art and nature were called in to further
his design. ve
The elegant drawing-rooms were almost transformed into
bowers of tropical bloom, .
Beautiful birds fluttered their tropical plumage and car-
oled_ their sweet songs in the gilded cages that swung in
the flowery arches and niches, i
oe