Miss Collins was scarcely what one would call a beautiful girl, yet
there was an attractiveness of manner peculiar to her which caused
her to be much, sought after and admired in social circles, and many
were the sad and heavy when it became known that she was about to
marry John Wilkie.
At this juncture Wilkie the elder was carried off with an attack of
pneumonia, leaving John, his only son, heir to his house and property.
This occurrence of course caused the wedding to be deferred for a
time, and the bridegroom elect went into deep mourning; in a few
months, however, he doffed his sable garments, and, having caused
the family mansion to be refurnished and renovated, began to make
preparations for his wedding.
The affair came off with great _eclat_, the bride being driven home
from church behind four dapple-grey horses, several carriages
following with bridesmaids, groomsmen, and invited guests, among the
latter being many rejected suitors, who took a kind of melancholy
pleasure in seeing the matter through. Mrs. Wilkie was in excellent
spirits, as was also the dowager, her mother-in-law, and after the
_dejeuner_ they wept together and kissed each other at parting as
if they were blood relations. Mrs. Collins was not so much affected;
she was so much entranced at the rich prize she had secured for her
daughter that grief was altogether out of the question.
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