you promise to breathe not a word of this to any woman I may marry
hereafter, here's a dead snip for you. Listen! When you come to the
words "to love, cherish and to obey," you simply drop the second "to"
(nobody will miss it) and run the "d" of the "and" into the "obey,"
and lo! we have a French word, to wit, _dauber_, meaning to cuff,
drub or belabour. What say you to that, my bonny bride? I think that
deserves an extra large slice of cake, to put under my pillow. And I
say, Muriel, I do hope there won't be any of those rotten cassowary
seeds in it. If there are, for pity's sake rake them out and give them
to someone who likes them. And I'll have his share of the marzipan.

Your affectionate cousin,

HUGH.


NEWSPAPER EXCERPT.

... During the service an amusing incident occurred. It was noticed
that the, bride, who is rumoured to have feminist leanings, betrayed
some difficulty in pronouncing the vow of obedience. The Rev. Thos.
Parsley considerately paused and helped her to repeat the words
after him in a clear and audible manner. In an interview with
our representative, Mr. Parsley smilingly explained that he was
determined, in his parish at any rate, to discourage any possible
evasion of the matrimonial vows. He considered that a great deal of
post-nuptial unhappiness was attributable to the lamentable laxity
of the clergy in joining young people in matrimony without requiring
their future relations to be clearly defined at the outset. The young
bride refused to make any comment, but seemed highly amused at the