Richard Forrest, Bachelor — page 128: what you’re looking at

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

MARRIAGE AND DEATH. 119 CHAPTER XIV. MARRIAGE AND DEATH. As the details of a wedding are of minor importance, ex- cepting to those directly concerned, I will merely state that of Gertrude Clayton and Arthur Eldridge, which occurred about three months after the announcement of their en- gagement, was celebrated with due pomp and ceremony. Had their wishes alone been consulted, it is possible that it would have been a quieter affair than it was, but Mr. Clay- ton overruled them, and he had his way. Gertrude was his only child, and this marriage had so long been the ardent desire of his heart. Therefore, he declared, he proposed it should be a noteworthy event. Poor old man! They were thankful afterward that they had yielded to him, for a quick dispatch summoned them home from their wedding journey to his bedside. The excitement had proved too much for his enfeebled condition, and this time his symp- toms were very serious, as the family physician took pains to wire. As soon as Gertrude reached the house she estab- lished herself beside her father’s pillow, and from that hour assumed entire charge of him. ‘‘Dlease leave me alone,’’ she said, when they cautioned her that she would wear herself out and begged her to take some rest. “Tt is my father who is lying here, and who but I should care for him?’’ and nothing could change her determina- tion. “Do not make it any harder for me,’’ she would plead, when Arthur endeavored to persuade her to givu GOmIichbookssco im