bold and slender columns which supported the Gothic roof. On the sides of the church, here and there could be perceived rising up through the thick masses of shade like menacing spectres, the marble statues that decorated the tombs. The light of a single lamp twinkled at the furthest depth of the sanctuary, and from the other extremity of the nave it might have been deemed a star. A cold and damp atmosphere, still impregnated with the last odor of the incense burned during the day, circulated heavily round the party, causing an involuntary shiver. In that immense and resounding structure every step, however light, awakened an echo; every word faintly murmured prolonged itself through its depths like a moan. "Is Monsieur the Abbé ready?" asked the person who was bearing the burden of Rosette's unconscious form (and who was no other than the confidential valet of the Duke de Villenègre), of the individual who had given them admission, and whose features could not be distinguished in the dark.

"Monsieur the Abbé is waiting in the sacristy," answered a nasal tone, like that of some subaltern official of the church, “and he will ascend the altar as soon as it is the pleasure of Monsieur the Duke."

Enough. Tell him to prepare the certificate, leaving the names in blank. I rather think the bridegroom will not care to have his real name known, and he can fill it in himself when all is over. Are you very sure he will be here, Captain?

"No doubt of that. Where pistoles or pretty girls are to be got so cheap, he will not be wanting, I will answer for it. I have sent one of my fellows to meet him and conduct him here. Curse me if I know what keeps them so long already! I hope the drunken rascal has not drowned his memory in a cup of hypocras.'

A pause of some time ensued, within which Rosette, aided by the efforts of Daine Defunctis, who was terrified into an unusual silence, began to recover from her swoon.

"Where am I? What do they want of me? Why am I here?" she murmured in a feeble voice.

"You are here to be married, my pretty maid, and you had better take it quietly, for there is no avoiding it. All is arranged, and you must submit.

Good care shall be taken of you, and you shall have a fine, gallant husband in the Count de Manle."

Before any expression could be given to Rosette's bewildered horror, two strokes sounded lightly on the same side door by which they had entered.

"Here they are at last," said Corbineau, as he gave admission to two men wrapped in their cloaks. One of them walked with a staggering gait, and leaned on his comrade for support. He could be heard in the darkness to stumble at almost every step.

"Sans-Dieu! comrade," said Corbineau to the man who served as guide, "but you are late! I began to fear you had not met the man.

"It is not my fault, captain," said the other surlily; "this cavalier came dead-drunk to the rendezvous, and he had all the trouble in the world to give me the pass. I have almost had to carry him here."

"It is a calumny," interrupted De Manle, in an altered voice, "and this fellow lies like a rogue. I have full possession of my reason, and I walk like a king's arquebusier. I've only drunk a glass of hypocras with the bourgeois, that's all. But come, where is this pearl beyond price-this charming bride, my pretty Rosette, where is she?"

"There she is," answered the captain, "come, my fine cavalier, go and make your court to overcome the last scruples, while the priest is informed of your arrival. You will need all your gallantry, for I warn you the little beauty is as fierce as a tigress.

"We'll see!" said De Manle, with his usual air of conceit; “these tigresses are easy to tame.

He staggered towards Rosette, and began to speak to her in a low tone, till presently it was apparent from a movement in the direction of the sacristy, that the ceremony was about to commence.

A word of explanation is necessary, to make intelligible a scene which would seem almost impossible, even in the reckless and violent days of our story. At that time ecclesiastical benefices were sometimes given to lay nobles, who would even transmit them to their heirs. To serve the chapels, churches, priories, &c., these unclerical proprietors would engage such poor priests as they could find, who for a

share of the income of the institution would perform its official duties, being themselves the merest aud often the most unscrupulous tools of the patron on whom they were thus dependent. They were called Confidentiaries or Custodinos. Such was the relation between the Abbé who now ascended the altar, a man of utterly worthless character, and the Duke the Duke de Villenègre. Nor were such forced marriages, as they were termed, very uncommon in those days. If a ruined gentleman wished to espouse a rich heiress, he would carry her off by force or fraud, to some place where a priest was gained over beforehand for the performance of the ceremony. Afterwards if the family of the unhappy woman should attempt any judicial reclamation against these outrages, it was easy to prove by bribed witnesses, or forged or extorted documents, the legality of the marriage; and at all events it would lead only to interminable law proceedings, the disgrace of which fell heavily on both the two families concerned. So far was this carried, that in 1639, twenty years after these events, a royal ordinance was found necessary for the repression of these offences by the severest penalties.

The ceremony on this occasion was short. Rosette was led to the altar in a state apparently of stupefaction. She made no opposition to the ruthless proceedings of which she was the victim, her faculties and very consciousness seeming benumbed and helpless. De Manle occasionally addressed a few words to her in a low tone, which it could not be judged whether she heard or not. The nuptial benediction was just about to be pronounced, when a violent knocking was heard at the principal entrance of the church, and a strong and authoritative voice was heard :

Open, in the name of the King !" "It is my husband with the soldiers of the patrol!" exclaimed Dame Defunctis, reviving from the stupor of her frame. "It is God has sent him! God, who has not been willing to suffer this horrible sacrilege in a sanctified place!"

The priest paused suddenly, trembling with alarm. "Not a word, not a movement, mademoiselle!" exclaimed the valet, addressing himself to the speaker. "Captain Corbineau, take charge of this old fool, and see that she

gives no alarm. Proceed, Monsieur Ï'Abbé, and be quick. All will be concluded before the King's people can reach us here-you know the consequence if you fail."

He was immediately obeyed, and the ceremony proceeded. Such was the noise without, and the agitation of those within, that no one could hear Rosette's replies. The priest himself, no doubt, attached no great importance to them, for without pausing, he hastened to mumble over the forms of his sacred office, with all the rapidity inspired by haste, and the desire to satisfy his patron.

At last all was done; the symbolical ring was on the finger of the bride, the nuptial benediction had been pronounced, and when the last amen was said by the assistant of the priest, nothing more was wanting, according to the ideas and usages of the times, to make the marriage binding before God and men. As soon as the whole was completed and secured, and the priest was descending from the altar, the valet of the Duke, without allowing himself to be terrified by the clamor of the archers at the entrance, said aloud in a clear voice and a tone of exultation :

"Let all who are here present bear witness that Rosette Poliveau is legally and irrevocably married to this cavalier, and that while he lives she can never marry another. And now let us leave the place to the gentry of the police. Monsieur de Manle, you may carry your wife wherever you please.

The whole party now proceeded in haste to disperse, some to escape by the small side door by which they had entered, the rest through the door of the sacristy. All were, however, suddenly arrested by the voice of the newly wedded bridegroom, who had alone remained motionless, supporting in his arm Rosette, who lay in apparent insensibility, with her head buried in his bosom. He spoke in a tone of strange authority, which commanded an obedience none could resist.

'Mignon, remain, sir! Monsieur l'Abbé, stay! Let that door be opened immediately!"

In a few moments the whole impatient troupe without were streaming up the aisle, with Defunctis, Poliveau, Giles at their head, and bearing torches, which shed a strong glare on the little group at the foot of the altar, in