As they thus opened their ranks , the leaders of this noble bridal train appeared behind and between them ; and such was the variety and gaiety of their attire , such the display of silks and velvet , fur and satin , embroidery and lace , that the procession showed forth upon the snow like a flower-bed in a path or a painted window in a wall . First came the bride , a sorry sight , as pale as winter , clinging to Sir Daniel 's arm , and attended , as brides-maid , by the short young lady who had befriended Dick the night before . Close behind , in the most radiant toilet , followed the bridegroom , halting on a gouty foot ; and as he passed the threshold of the sacred building and doffed his hat , his bald head was seen to be rosy with emotion . And now came the hour of Ellis Duckworth . Dick , who sat stunned among contrary emotions , grasping the desk in front of him , beheld a movement in the crowd , people jostling backward , and eyes and arms uplifted . Following these signs , he beheld three or four men with bent bows leaning from the clerestory gallery . At the same instant they delivered their discharge , and before the clamour and cries of the astounded populace had time to swell fully upon the ear , they had flitted from their perch and disappeared . The nave was full of swaying heads and voices screaming ; the ecclesiastics thronged in terror from their places ; the music ceased , and though the bells overhead continued for some seconds to clang upon the air , some wind of the disaster seemed to find its way at last even to the chamber where the ringers were leaping on their ropes , and they also desisted from their merry labours . Right in the midst of the nave the bridegroom lay stone-dead , pierced by two black arrows . The bride had fainted . Sir Daniel stood , towering above the crowd in his surprise and anger , a clothyard shaft quivering in his left forearm , and his face streaming blood from another which had grazed his brow . Long before any search could be made for them , the authors of this tragic interruption had clattered down a turnpike stair and decamped by a postern door . But Dick and Lawless still remained in pawn ; they had , indeed , arisen on the first alarm , and pushed manfully to gain the door ; but what with the narrowness of the stalls and the crowding of terrified priests and choristers , the attempt had been in vain , and they had stoically resumed their places . And now , pale with horror , Sir Oliver rose to his feet and called upon Sir Daniel , pointing with one hand to Dick . `` Here , '' he cried , `` is Richard Shelton -- alas the hour ! -- blood guilty ! Seize him ! -- bid him be seized ! For all our lives ' sakes , take him and bind him surely ! He hath sworn our fall . ''
Sir XXXXX was blinded by anger -- blinded by the hot blood that still streamed across his face .
Daniel Dick First Lawless Oliver choristers clamour labours left nave