When Charles the First Was King · Chapter
How the Bells Rang Out at Darrington explained
Will Dale awakens on his wedding day to find the house bustling with preparations.
What happens
Will Dale awakens on his wedding day to find the house bustling with preparations. He retrieves a buried box containing Philip Lisle's guinea and the preserved flowers from Rose, then joins Ben Tuckett for the wedding procession to Darrington church. The double wedding of Will and Rose, and Ben and Lucy, takes place with great ceremony, followed by a feast and dancing. The chapter concludes with the departure of guests and a brief epilogue summarizing the later lives of Ben and Lucy.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Courtship
The chapter culminates in the double wedding of Will and Rose, and Ben and Lucy, celebrating the fulfillment of their courtships.
Family and Heritage
Jacob Trusty speaks of four generations of Dales, and Will retrieves the buried tokens from his past, linking his wedding to family history.
Characters to notice
- Will Dale
The groom; retrieves the buried box with the guinea and flowers, marries Rose Lisle.
- Ben Tuckett
The other groom; marries Lucy, later becomes Mayor of Pontefract.
- Rose Lisle
The bride; marries Will Dale, becomes mistress of Dale's Field.
- Lucy
The bride; marries Ben Tuckett, mother of twelve children.
- Jack Drumbleforth
Master of ceremonies; escorts one of the brides and organizes the procession.
- Jacob Trusty
Gives Will his blessing, decorates horses, and gives Rose away at the altar.
Key passages
“I took a spade and went to the corner of the garden where, many a year before, I had buried the little box containing Philip Lisle’s guinea and the primrose which Rose had given me at my first parting from her.”
Will dug up a box he had buried long ago, which held Philip Lisle's coin and the primrose Rose gave him when they first parted.
Will retrieves sentimental tokens from his past on his wedding morning.
“So Ben and I took up our places, and our friends stood round us, and presently appeared Jack and Tom leading the brides, and the Vicar began the solemn service that was to make us one for life.”
Ben and Will stood at the altar, and soon Jack and Tom escorted the brides in, as the vicar commenced the wedding ceremony.
The double wedding ceremony begins.
“And when he came to that part where it is necessary that someone should give the woman to the man, I stayed him and beckoned Jacob Trusty to come forward, and it was Jacob’s hand that put my wife’s in mine.”
When the vicar asked who gave the bride away, Will called Jacob Trusty forward to place Rose's hand in his.
Jacob Trusty gives Rose away at the wedding.