Treasured Brides Collection (47 page)

“I think it would be lovely!” said Mrs. Walton quickly, her eyes sparkling. “That won’t be like losing you. Oh, Chris, you’re a darling boy!”

“Well, Mother dear, that was Natalie’s suggestion. She loves you, she really does, and her mother does, too.”

“And I love them both, and Janice, too,” the mother added, “and so does your father and Elise. I think we are going to be very happy, whether we get the old house back or not. I’m not sure but I’d be just as well satisfied to stay right here. It’s cozy, and we’re all happy together.”

That was the beginning of the talk, but things moved rapidly on, and it wasn’t long before the house next door was getting a new coat of paint and paper, outside and in. Natalie was shopping for some very cheap, pretty, bargain curtains, and evenings were exciting times when everybody had come over to see the new house and see the latest thing that had been done to it.

It was Betty Zane’s young sister that asked Elise one day, “Say, Elise, is it true that your brother is going to marry that Halsey girl?”

“Yes,” said Elise coldly, “it is.” Her tone did not invite further comment, but her smile showed that she was entirely satisfied with his choice.

“Mercy,” said the other girl disagreeably, “did she work in a store? I should think you’d feel terribly about it.”

“Yes, she worked in a store,” said Elise proudly, “and so does my brother, but we are just delighted about it. We love her very dearly and are very glad that he is going to marry her. She’s choice. Good-bye, I’m going this way today.” And Elise swept around the corner, a trifle haughtily.

But it was some weeks later that Betty Zane and Anna Peters were walking down the street together.

“Did you know,” began Betty, “that Chris Walton and that quiet little mouse of a Natalie Halsey are being married this evening? The wedding is in the church, and only a few intimate friends are invited. But they say the owner of the grocery stores is coming and that he gave Natalie a whole silver service. Aren’t things strange? Chris Walton working in a grocery store and then getting to be manager. But I can’t understand his marrying that poor little Halsey girl.”

“I heard she came from a fine old family,” said Anna.

“Well, what’s that when you haven’t a rag to wear on your back? I wonder what on earth she’ll wear to be married in? Something old or made over, I’ll bet.”

“Well, it’s old, and it’ll be made over a little, perhaps,” laughed Anna disagreeably. “Our dressmaker is doing it. But she says it’s gorgeous. It’s her mother’s wedding dress, ivory satin, and a thread lace veil that must have cost a fabulous price. Natalie’s almost her mother’s size. The dress hardly has to be changed at all, just taken in a little on the shoulders. I think she might have invited us, don’t you? Her old schoolmates! They say she has some gorgeous presents from the people in the stores. I’d like to see them. I think it was real mean of her not to ask us.”

“Well,” soliloquized Betty, “I don’t quite see why she should. We never acted as if we knew she existed when she was in school. But I suppose, now that Mr. Walton is back in the bank and everything going prosperously, we’ll have to take her up.”

“I don’t see why,” said Anna. “They’re going to live down on that little old Sullivan Street. Isn’t it odd, when they don’t have to anymore? I don’t see why they should expect us to call on them.”

“Well, if you ask me,” said Betty’s younger sister, “I don’t believe they know or care what you do. They live in a world of their own, and they like it. I’ve been talking with Janice Halsey a lot lately, and she says they all go down to that Water Street mission and study the Bible. I think they’re all strange.”

“Yes,” said Anna, sighing half wistfully, “I guess that’s it. They’re just peculiar people. They don’t seem to mind in the least that they lost all their money and had to go and live down there in the unfashionable district. Fancy staying there when they don’t have to? And I guess they are happy, for I met Chris the other day and he was whistling away. And he smiled at me like a beam of sunshine, though I know he can’t bear me. I just can’t understand it. They are happier than they were when they were rich. And those Halseys seem happy, too.”

“I know,” said Betty. “I don’t understand it. They’re happy without things, and I’ve got a lot, and sometimes I’m awfully bored with life. Wouldn’t you think they’d just be desperate to think they had all that money and that lovely home and had to give it up? And yet, they go around looking as if they’d just inherited a fortune and belonged to a royal family.”

Five blocks away from where those girls were talking, Chris was fingering a delicate wedding ring on Natalie’s finger, saying, “Natalie, I’ve been thinking how wonderful God has been to us, to just take me out of the life I was living that I thought was so wonderful and put me where I might know you. Oh, you darling!”

G
RACE
L
IVINGSTON
H
ILL
(1865–1947) is known as the pioneer of Christian romance. Grace wrote more than one hundred faith-inspired books during her lifetime. When her first husband died, leaving her with two daughters to raise, writing became a way to make a living, but she always recognized storytelling as a way to share her faith in God. She has touched countless lives through the years and continues to touch lives today. Her books feature moving stories, delightful characters, and love in its purest form.

Grace Livingston Hill began writing stories in 1877 at the tender age of twelve and didn’t stop until her death in 1947. But what may be more amazing is that she has sold more than 84 million copies and is still loved by young and old alike.