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Page 2
"Sisters seem to come off worst of all," protested Johnnie. But in spite
of their lamentations they all saw enough of their future brother-in-law
to grow fond of him; and notwithstanding some natural pangs of jealousy at
having to share Katy with an outsider, it was a happy visit, and every one
was sorry when the leave of absence ended, and Ned had to go away.
A month later the "Natchitoches" sailed for the Bahamas. It was to be a
six months' cruise only; and on her return she was for a while to make
part of the home squadron. This furnished a good opportunity for her
first lieutenant to marry; so it was agreed that the wedding should take
place in June, and Katy set about her preparations in the leisurely and
simple fashion which was characteristic of her. She had no ambition for a
great _trousseau_, and desired to save her father expense; so her outfit,
as compared with that of most modern brides, was a very moderate one, but
being planned and mostly made at home, it necessarily involved thought,
time, and a good deal of personal exertion.
Dear little Clover flung herself into the affair with even more interest
than if it had been her own. Many happy mornings that winter did the
sisters spend together over their dainty stitches and "white seam." Elsie
and Johnnie were good needle-women now, and could help in many ways. Mrs.
Ashe often joined them; even Amy could contribute aid in the plainer
sewing, and thread everybody's needles. But the most daring and
indefatigable of all was Clover, who never swerved in her determination
that Katy's "things" should be as nice and as pretty as love and industry
combined could make them. Her ideas as to decoration soared far beyond
Katy's. She hem-stitched, she cat-stitched, she feather-stitched, she
lace-stitched, she tucked and frilled and embroidered, and generally
worked her fingers off; while the bride vainly protested that all this
finery was quite unnecessary, and that simple hems and a little Hamburg
edging would answer just as well. Clover merely repeated the words,
"Hamburg edging!" with an accent of scorn, and went straight on in her
elected way.
As each article received its last touch, and came from the laundry white
and immaculate, it was folded to perfection, tied with a narrow blue or
pale rose-colored ribbon, and laid aside in a sacred receptacle known as
"The Wedding Bureau." The handkerchiefs, grouped in dozens, were strewn
with dried violets and rose-leaves to make them sweet. Lavender-bags and
sachets of orris lay among the linen; and perfumes as of Araby were
discernible whenever a drawer in the bureau was pulled out.
So the winter passed, and now spring was come; and the two girls on the
doorsteps were talking about the wedding, which seemed very near now.
"Tell me just what sort of an affair you want it to be," said Clover.
"It seems more your wedding than mine, you have worked so hard for it,"
replied Katy. "You might give your ideas first."
"My ideas are not very distinct. It's only lately that I have begun to
think about it at all, there has been so much to do. I'd like to have you
have a beautiful dress and a great many wedding-presents and everything as
pretty as can be, but not so many bridesmaids as Cecy, because there is
always such a fuss in getting them nicely up the aisle in church and out
again,--that is as far as I've got. But so long as you are pleased, and it
goes off well, I don't care exactly how it is managed."
"Then, since you are in such an accommodating frame of mind, it seems a
good time to break my views to you. Don't be shocked, Clovy; but, do you
know, I don't want to be married in church at all, or to have any
bridesmaids, or anything arranged for beforehand particularly. I should
like things to be simple, and to just _happen_."
"But, Katy, you can't do it like that. It will all get into a snarl if
there is no planning beforehand or rehearsals; it would be confused and
horrid."
"I don't see why it would be confused if there were nothing to confuse.
Please not be vexed; but I always have hated the ordinary kind of wedding,
with its fuss and worry and so much of everything, and just like all the
other weddings, and the bride looking tired to death, and nobody enjoying
it a bit. I'd like mine to be different, and more--more--real. I don't
want any show or processing about, but just to have things nice and
pretty, and all the people I love and who love me to come to it, and
nothing cut and dried, and nobody tired, and to make it a sort of dear,
loving occasion, with leisure to realize how dear it is and what it all
means. Don't you think it would really be nicer in that way?"
"Well, yes, as you put it, and 'viewed from the higher standard,' as Miss
Inches would say, perhaps it would. Still, bridesmaids and all that are
very pretty to look at; and folks will be surprised if you don't have
them."
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