Life — April 2, 1896 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

DRAWN FROM THE NUDE. the point of acquiring a mother-in-law. He remembered that the papers which he had read coming up on the train had seemed unusually full of the usual alleged jokes at the expense of that unfortunate woman. ‘They bad not made him laugh then and they did not now as they came leaping up like imps out of the memory of nis inner con- sciousness, for he was too earnest in his belief that his mother-in-law to-be was no joke, but a proposition. Why didn’t the music begin? Why didn't they open those doors? Had anything gone wrong? Hadanyone arrived at the last mo- ment to announce some good cause why they two should not be joined together in holy THE LATEST STYLES. wedlock? No, thank heaven, he could face the world on that score. None the less, he felt that it must be fearfully late. Yet he had been told that everything was all ready and that it was time for him to take his place on his chalk mark. What were they waiting for? Had he not waited long enough already? He had known her from early girlhood, and he knew now that this had not made the winning her any easier for him. At first she had been too busy to think of a lover at all. Then her most intimate friend became engaged, and he took shape as an idea, gradu- ally developing into a perfect though shadowy creature, as indefinite as her own future, so that she had been slow to realize that he was already present by her side in all his imperfections of the flesh, But he had won her, so why didn’t the music begin? If he could only look at his watch and see what time it really was it would relieve his mind. He remembered that he had never seen it done, and kept his hands fast at the seams of his trousers, out of temptation. Suddenly the doors were pushed back and the bridal party appeared in the opening. Behind the double file of sombre-hued ushers his eye caught a bit of color from the dressof one of the bridesmaids, and then rested for a moment upon a little cloud of pure swanlike white. Thank heaven, there she was, And as she was there why didn’t the music begin ? The tallest usher changed his position and the little white cloud disappeared behind his broad black shoulder, Confound him, why couldn't he stand still, when that was the first glimpse he had had of her for goodness only knew how long! There they all stood in the doorway, his seven best friends and the Girl's Usher, He supposed there was no reason now, from his point of view, why that unfortunate should not be one of his friends, too, He felt that he had never appreciated the fellow's good quali- ties so strongly as at that moment. He remem- bered that when she had at first spoken to him of her usher he had suggested to her the inadvisability of inviting a man to be present at his own funeral, and how she had insisted that her usher she would have. He remem- bered, too, how he had remarked that she might as well ask him to let her be the confi- dante of his love affairs incident to the period of the rebound, and how she replied that she had already done so. He determined to save him if it were a possible thing, and had stated that in his experience the Girl's Usher had in- variably been either the most lugubrious or the most intoxicated person at the wedding reception, She had answered that her usher was a gentleman, which she hoped he could say of his, and departed for the dressmaker's, But there he was, so why didn’t the music begin ? He saw the black back of the organist sud- denly fill out as with the responsibility of his comicbooks.com