THE NIGHT BEFORE.THE time was the night before the marriage. The place was Sir Patrick’s house in Kent.
The lawyers had kept their word. The settlements had been forwarded, and had been signed two days since.
With the exception of the surgeon and one of the three young gentlemen from the University, who had engagements elsewhere, the visitors at Windygates had emigrated southward to be present at the marriage. Besides these gentlemen, there were some ladies among the guests invited by Sir Patrick—all of them family connections, and three of them appointed to the position of Blanche’s bridesmaids. Add one or two neighbors to be invited to the breakfast—and the wedding-party would be complete.
There was nothing architecturally remarkable about Sir Patrick’s house. Ham Farm possessed neith
