THE PERFECT WIFE. pressing his suit in the shades of Richmond, and by the pleasant banks of the Thames ; and the natural result was that this excellently-matched couple were betrothed at the end of six weeks, to the infinite chagrin of many whose advances had been rejected by both. The romance was nearly changed into a tragedy, however, for, on the day appointed for the marriage, when the friends on both sides were assembled, the bride expectant was suddenly seized with the small- pox, at that period a disease often fatal to life and beauty. Her very existence was for some time despaired of ; and when she was pronounced out of danger, she seemed " the most deformed person that could be seen ;" but her lover, true to his vows, and thankful to God for her preservation, claimed her hand,-and on July the 3rd, 1638, at St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, they were united ; when the minister who performed the ceremony, and the friends who witnessed it, " were affrighted to look on her." Happily, as we are informed, the beauty she had lost was ultimately restored, to reward the constancy of her husband, " though she was longer than ordinary before she recovered to be as well as before." For two years they lived in tranquil happiness at Enfield Chase ; Lady Apsley residing with them. Two infant sons, after a time, enlivened their home with childish prattlings. During this time they employed their leisure in theological and political 29
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=