Nothing arose to mar their intercourse until the appointed time for
the nuptial ceremonies arrived, when they were united in holy
wedlock. But, Edwin Florence did not pass on to this time without
another visit from the rebuking Angel of the past. He was not
permitted to take the hand of Clara in his, and utter the words that
bound him to her forever, without a visit from the one whose heart
he had broken years before. She came to him in the dark and silent
midnight, as he tossed sleeplessly upon his bed, and stood and
looked at him with her pale face and despairing eyes, until he was
driven almost to madness. She was with him when the light of morning
dawned; she moved by his side as he went forth to meet and claim his
betrothed; and was near him, invisible to all eyes but his own, when
he stood at the altar ready to give utterance to the solemn words
that bound him to his bride. And not until these words were said,
did the vision fade away.
No wonder the face of the bridegroom wore a solemn aspect as he
presented himself to the minister, and breathed the vows of eternal
fidelity to the living, while before him, as distinct as if in
bodily form, was the presence of one long since sleeping ill her
grave, who had gone down to her shadowy resting place through his
infidelity.
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