Old Mrs. Marshall , over-harbour , was very ill and sent for him , but the message lay unheeded on his desk and gathered dust . Mrs. Marshall recovered but never forgave him . A young couple came to the manse to be married and Mr. Meredith , with unbrushed hair , in carpet slippers and faded dressing gown , married them . To be sure , he began by reading the funeral service to them and got along as far as `` ashes to ashes and dust to dust '' before he vaguely suspected that something was wrong . `` Dear me , '' he said absently , `` that is strange -- very strange . '' The bride , who was very nervous , began to cry . The bridegroom , who was not in the least nervous , giggled . `` Please , sir , I think you 're burying us instead of marrying us , '' he said . `` Excuse me , '' said Mr. Meredith , as it it did not matter much . He turned up the marriage service and got through with it , but the bride never felt quite properly married for the rest of her life . He forgot his prayer-meeting again -- but that did not matter , for it was a wet night and nobody came . He might even have forgotten his Sunday service if it had not been for Mrs. Alec Davis . Aunt Martha came in on Saturday afternoon and told him that Mrs. Davis was in the parlour and wanted to see him . Mr. Meredith sighed . Mrs. Davis was the only woman in Glen St. Mary church whom he positively detested . Unfortunately , she was also the richest , and his board of managers had warned Mr. Meredith against offending her . Mr. Meredith seldom thought of such a worldly matter as his stipend ; but the managers were more practical . Also , they were astute . Without mentioning money , they contrived to instil into Mr. Meredith 's mind a conviction that he should not offend Mrs. Davis . Otherwise , he would likely have forgotten all about her as soon as Aunt Martha had gone out .
As it was , he turned down his Ewald XXXXX a feeling of annoyance and went across the hall to the parlour .
Without as before by for of on that to with