October 13, 2025 • 15 mins
18 - The Best Man by Grace Livingston Hill.
Cyril Gordon, a young and handsome secret service agent is running from pursuers who desperately want the information he holds. He hides out from them in a church, and then finds himself married to a woman he’s never seen before. A sweet and sometimes, funny, romance, with several exciting chases.
Cyril Gordon, a young and handsome secret service agent is running from pursuers who desperately want the information he holds. He hides out from them in a church, and then finds himself married to a woman he’s never seen before. A sweet and sometimes, funny, romance, with several exciting chases.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eighteen of the Best Man. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Recording by Gale maddern The Best
Man by Grace livingstone Hill, chapter eighteen. The journey back
to New York seemed all too brief for those two
whose lives had just been blended so unexpectedly, and every
(00:21):
mile was filled with a new and sweet discovery of
delight in one another. And then when they reached the city,
they rushed in on Missus Hathway and the eager young Jeff,
Like two children who had so much to tell, they
did not know where to begin. Missus Hathaway settled the
matter by insisting on their going to dinner immediately and
(00:42):
leaving all explanations until afterward. And with the servants present.
Of course, there was little that could be said about
the matter that each one had most at heart, But
there was a spirit of deep happiness in the atmosphere,
and one couldn't possibly entertain any fears under the influence
of the radiant smiles that passed between mother and daughter,
(01:04):
husband and wife, brother and sister. As soon as the
meal was concluded, the mother led them up to her
private sitting room and closing the door she stood, facing
them all as half breathless with the excitement of the moment.
They stood in a row before her, My three dear children,
she murmured. Gordon's eyes lit with joy, and his heart
(01:27):
thrilled with the wonder of it all. Then the mother
stepped up to him, and, placing her hand on his arm,
led him over to the couch and made him sit
beside her, while the brother and sister sat down together
close by. Now, Cyril, my new son, she said deliberately,
her eyes resting approvingly upon his face, you may tell
(01:50):
me your story. I see my girl has lost both
head and heart to you, and I doubt if she
could tell it connectedly. And while Celia and were laughing
at this, Gordon set about his task of winning a mother,
and incidentally an eager eyed young brother who was more
than half committed to his cause. Already, Celia watched proudly
(02:13):
as her handsome husband took out his credentials and began
his explanation. First, I must tell you who I am,
and these papers will do it better than I could.
Will you look at them, please, he hinted her A
few letters and papers. These papers on the top showed
the rank and position that my father and my grandfather
(02:35):
held with the government and in the army. This is
a letter from the President to my father, congratulating him
on his approaching marriage with my mother. That paper contains
my mother's family tree, and the letters with it will
give you an idea of the honor in which my
mother's family was held in Washington and in Virginia, her
(02:55):
old home. I know these matters are not of much
moment and say nothing whatever about what I am myself,
But they are things you would have been likely to
know about my family if you had known me all
my life, and at least they will tell you that
my family was respectable. Missus Hathaway was examining the papers
(03:16):
and suddenly looked up, exclaiming, my dear, my father knew
your grandfather. I think I saw him once when he
came to our home in New York. It was years ago,
and I was a young girl, but I remember he
was a fine looking man, with keen dark eyes and
a heavy head of iron gray hair. She looked at
Gordon keenly. I wonder if your eyes are not like his.
(03:40):
It was long ago, of course, they used to say
I looked like him. I do not remember him. He
died when I was very young. The mother looked up
with a pleasant smile. Now tell me about yourself, she said,
and laid a gentle hand on his Gordon looked down,
an embarrassed flush spreading over his face. There's nothing great
(04:04):
to tell, he said. I've always tried to live a straight,
true life, and I've never been in love with any
girl before. He flashed a wonderful, blinding smile upon Celia.
I was left alone in the world when quite young,
and have lived around in boarding schools and college. I
am a graduate of Harvard, and I've traveled a little.
(04:25):
There was some money left for my father's estate, not much.
I'm not rich. I'm a secret service man, and I
love my work. I get a good salary, and was
this morning promoted to the position next in rank to
my chief, so that now I shall have still more money.
I shall be able to make your daughter comfortable and
give her some of the luxuries, if not all, to
(04:47):
which she has been accustomed. My dear boy, that part
is not what I am about, interrupted the mother. I know,
said Gordon, but it is a detail you have a
right to be told. I understan that you can far
more what I am than how much money I can make,
And I promise you I am going to try to
be all that you would want your daughter's husband to be.
(05:09):
Perhaps the best thing I can say for myself is
that I love her better than my life, and I
mean to make her happiness the dearest thing in life
to me. The mother's look of deep understanding answered him
more eloquently than words could have done, and after a
moment she spoke again. But I do not understand how
you could have known one another, and I never have
(05:30):
heard of you. Celia is not good at keeping things
from her mother, though the last three months she has
had a sadness that I could not fathom, and was
forced to lay to her natural dread of leaving home.
She seems so insistent upon having this marriage, just as
George planned it, and I was so afraid she would
regret not waiting. How could you have known one another
(05:53):
all this time? And she never talked to me about it?
And why did George Hayne have any part whatever in it?
If you loved one another? Just how long have you
known each other? Anyway? Did it begin when you visited
in Washington law Spring? Celia with dancing eyes. Celia shook
her head. No, Mamma. If I had met him, then
(06:14):
I am sure George Hain would never have had anything
to do with the matter, for Cyril would have known
how to help me out of my difficulty. I shall
have to tell you the whole story from my standpoint,
and from the beginning, said Gordon, dreading now that the
crisis was upon him what the outcome would be. I
have wanted you to know who and what I was
(06:35):
before you knew the story, that you might judge me
as kindly as possible, and know that, however I may
have been to blame in the matter, it was through
no intention of mine. My story may sound rather impossible.
I know it will seem improbable, but it is nevertheless true.
Everything that I have to tell, may I hope to
(06:56):
be believed. I think you may, answered the mother, searching
his face anxiously. Those eyes of yours are not lying eyes.
Thank you, he said simply, and then, gathering all his courage,
he plunged into his story. Missus Hathaway was watching him
with searching interest. Jeff had drawn his chair up close
(07:19):
and could scarcely restrain his excitement, and when Gordon told
of his commission, he burst forth explosively, Gee, but that
was a great stunt. I'd have liked to have been
along with you. You must be simply great to be trusted
with a thing like that. But his mother gently reproved him. Hush,
my son, let us hear the story. Celia sat quietly
(07:42):
watching her husband with pride, two bright spots of color
on her cheeks, and her hands clasping each other tightly.
She was hearing many details now that were new to her.
Once more, when Gordon mentioned the dinner at Holman's, Jeff
interrupted with Holman, Holman, not j P. Why of course
(08:04):
we know him. Celia was one of his daughter's bridesmaid's
last spring, the old Lynx. I always thought he was crooked.
People hint a lot of things about him. Jeff, dear,
let us hear the story, again, insisted his mother, and
the story continued. Gordon had been looking down as he talked.
He dreaded to see their faces as the truth should
(08:26):
dawn upon them. But when he had told all, he
lifted honest eyes to the white faced mother and pleaded
with her, Indeed, indeed, I hope you will believe me
that not until they laid your daughter's hand in mine?
Did I know that I was supposed to be the bridegroom?
I thought all the time her brother was the bridegroom.
(08:47):
If I had not been so distraught and trying so
hard to think how to escape, I suppose I would
have noticed that I was standing next to her and
that everything was peculiar about the whole matter. But I didn't.
And then when I suddenly knew that she and I
were being married, what should I have done? Do you
think I ought to have stopped the ceremony then and
(09:09):
there and made a scene before all those people? What
was the right thing to do? Suppose my commission had
been entirely out of the question, and I had had
no duty toward the government to keep entirely quiet about myself.
Do you think I ought to have made a scene?
Would you have wanted me to? For your daughter's sake?
Tell me, please? He insisted gently, and while she hesitated,
(09:35):
he added, I did some pretty hard thinking during that
first quarter of a second that I realized what was happening,
And I tell you, honestly, I didn't know what was
the right thing to do. It seemed awful for her
sake to make a scene, and to tell you the truth,
I worshiped her from the moment my eyes rested upon her.
There was something sad and appealing as she looked at
(09:57):
me that seemed to pledge my very life to save
her from trouble. Tell me, do you think I ought
to have stopped the ceremony? Then? At the first moment
of my realization that I was being married, The mother's
face had softened as she watched him and listened to
his tender words about Celia. And now she answered gently,
(10:18):
I am not sure. Perhaps not. It was a very
grave question to face. I don't know that I can
blame you for doing nothing. It would have been terrible
for her and us and everybody, and have made it
all so public. Oh, I think you did right not
to do anything publicly. Perhaps, and yet it is terrible
(10:40):
to me to think you have been forced to marry
my daughter in that way. Please do not say forced, mother,
said Gordon, laying both hands earnestly upon hers and looking
into her eyes. I tell you, one thing that held
me back from doing anything was that I so earnestly
desired that what I was passing through might be real
(11:02):
and lasting. I have never seen one like her before.
I know that if the mistake had been righted and
she had passed out of my life, I should never
have felt the same again. I am glad, glad with
all my heart that she is mine, and mother, I
think she is glad too. The mother turned toward her daughter,
(11:23):
and Celia, with starry eyes, came and knelt before them,
and laid her hands in the hands of her husband,
saying with ringing voice, yes, dear little mother, I am
gladder than I ever was before in my life. And
kneeling thus, with her husband's arm about her, her face
against his shoulder, and both her hands clasped in his,
(11:46):
she told her mother about the tortures that George Hayne
had put her through, until the mother turned white with
horror at what her beloved and cherished child had been enduring,
and the brother got up and stormed across the floor,
showing vengeance on the luckless head of poor George Hayne. Then,
after the mother had given her blessing to the two
(12:07):
and Jeff had added an original one of his own,
there was the whole story of the eventful wedding trip
to tell, which they both told by solos amid choruses,
until the hour grew alarmingly late, and the mother suddenly
sent them all off to bed. The next few days
were both busy and happy ones for the two. They
went to the hospital and gladdened the life of the
(12:30):
little newsboy with fruit and toys and many promises. And
they brought home a happy white dog from his boarding place,
whom Jeff adopted as his own. Gordon had a trying
hour or two at court with his one time host,
the scoundrel who had stolen the cipher message, and the
thick set man glad at him from a cell window
(12:51):
as he passed along the corridor of the prison, whither
he had gone in search of George Hayne. Gordon, in
his search for the lost whom, for many reasons, he
decided to find as soon as possible, had asked the
help of one of the men at work on the
Holman case in searching for a certain George Hayne, who
needed very much to be brought to justice. Oh you
(13:14):
won't have to search for him, declared the man with
a smile. He safely landed in prison. Three days ago.
He was caught as neatly as rolling off a log
by the son of the man whose name he forged
several years ago. It was trust money of a big corporation,
and the man died in his place in a prison cell.
But the son means to see the real culprit punished,
(13:36):
and so Gordon, in the capacity of Celia's lawyer, went
to the prison to talk with George Hayne, and that
miserable man found no excuse for his sins. When the
searching talk was over, Gordon did not let the man
know who he was, and merely made it understood that
Celia was married, and that if he attempted to make
her any further trouble, the whole thing would be exposed
(13:59):
and he would have to in sir a grave charge
of blackmail. The days passed rapidly, and at last the
New York matter for which Gordon's presence was needed was finished,
and he was free to sail away with his bride.
On the morning of their departure, Gordon's voice rang out
over the miles of telephone wires to his old chief
(14:20):
in Washington. I'm married and I'm just starting on my
wedding trip. Don't you want to congratulate me? And the
old Chief's gruff voice sounded back. Good work, old man.
Congratulations for you both. She may or may not be
the best girl in all the world. I haven't had
a chance to see yet, but she's a lucky girl,
(14:40):
for she's got the best man I know. Tell her
that for me. Bless you both. I'm glad she's going
with you. It won't be so lonesome. Gordon gave her
the message that afternoon, as they sailed straight into the
sunshine of a beautiful new life together. Dear, he said,
as he arranged her steamer rug more comfortably about her,
(15:03):
Has it occurred to you that you are probably the
only bride who ever married the best man at her wedding?
Celia smiled appreciatively, and after a minute replied, mischievously, I
suppose every bride thinks her husband is the best man.
End of Chapter eighteen. End of The Best Man
Chapter eighteen of the Best Man. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Recording by Gale maddern The Best
Man by Grace livingstone Hill, chapter eighteen. The journey back
to New York seemed all too brief for those two
whose lives had just been blended so unexpectedly, and every
(00:21):
mile was filled with a new and sweet discovery of
delight in one another. And then when they reached the city,
they rushed in on Missus Hathway and the eager young Jeff,
Like two children who had so much to tell, they
did not know where to begin. Missus Hathaway settled the
matter by insisting on their going to dinner immediately and
(00:42):
leaving all explanations until afterward. And with the servants present.
Of course, there was little that could be said about
the matter that each one had most at heart, But
there was a spirit of deep happiness in the atmosphere,
and one couldn't possibly entertain any fears under the influence
of the radiant smiles that passed between mother and daughter,
(01:04):
husband and wife, brother and sister. As soon as the
meal was concluded, the mother led them up to her
private sitting room and closing the door she stood, facing
them all as half breathless with the excitement of the moment.
They stood in a row before her, My three dear children,
she murmured. Gordon's eyes lit with joy, and his heart
(01:27):
thrilled with the wonder of it all. Then the mother
stepped up to him, and, placing her hand on his arm,
led him over to the couch and made him sit
beside her, while the brother and sister sat down together
close by. Now, Cyril, my new son, she said deliberately,
her eyes resting approvingly upon his face, you may tell
(01:50):
me your story. I see my girl has lost both
head and heart to you, and I doubt if she
could tell it connectedly. And while Celia and were laughing
at this, Gordon set about his task of winning a mother,
and incidentally an eager eyed young brother who was more
than half committed to his cause. Already, Celia watched proudly
(02:13):
as her handsome husband took out his credentials and began
his explanation. First, I must tell you who I am,
and these papers will do it better than I could.
Will you look at them, please, he hinted her A
few letters and papers. These papers on the top showed
the rank and position that my father and my grandfather
(02:35):
held with the government and in the army. This is
a letter from the President to my father, congratulating him
on his approaching marriage with my mother. That paper contains
my mother's family tree, and the letters with it will
give you an idea of the honor in which my
mother's family was held in Washington and in Virginia, her
(02:55):
old home. I know these matters are not of much
moment and say nothing whatever about what I am myself,
But they are things you would have been likely to
know about my family if you had known me all
my life, and at least they will tell you that
my family was respectable. Missus Hathaway was examining the papers
(03:16):
and suddenly looked up, exclaiming, my dear, my father knew
your grandfather. I think I saw him once when he
came to our home in New York. It was years ago,
and I was a young girl, but I remember he
was a fine looking man, with keen dark eyes and
a heavy head of iron gray hair. She looked at
Gordon keenly. I wonder if your eyes are not like his.
(03:40):
It was long ago, of course, they used to say
I looked like him. I do not remember him. He
died when I was very young. The mother looked up
with a pleasant smile. Now tell me about yourself, she said,
and laid a gentle hand on his Gordon looked down,
an embarrassed flush spreading over his face. There's nothing great
(04:04):
to tell, he said. I've always tried to live a straight,
true life, and I've never been in love with any
girl before. He flashed a wonderful, blinding smile upon Celia.
I was left alone in the world when quite young,
and have lived around in boarding schools and college. I
am a graduate of Harvard, and I've traveled a little.
(04:25):
There was some money left for my father's estate, not much.
I'm not rich. I'm a secret service man, and I
love my work. I get a good salary, and was
this morning promoted to the position next in rank to
my chief, so that now I shall have still more money.
I shall be able to make your daughter comfortable and
give her some of the luxuries, if not all, to
(04:47):
which she has been accustomed. My dear boy, that part
is not what I am about, interrupted the mother. I know,
said Gordon, but it is a detail you have a
right to be told. I understan that you can far
more what I am than how much money I can make,
And I promise you I am going to try to
be all that you would want your daughter's husband to be.
(05:09):
Perhaps the best thing I can say for myself is
that I love her better than my life, and I
mean to make her happiness the dearest thing in life
to me. The mother's look of deep understanding answered him
more eloquently than words could have done, and after a
moment she spoke again. But I do not understand how
you could have known one another, and I never have
(05:30):
heard of you. Celia is not good at keeping things
from her mother, though the last three months she has
had a sadness that I could not fathom, and was
forced to lay to her natural dread of leaving home.
She seems so insistent upon having this marriage, just as
George planned it, and I was so afraid she would
regret not waiting. How could you have known one another
(05:53):
all this time? And she never talked to me about it?
And why did George Hayne have any part whatever in it?
If you loved one another? Just how long have you
known each other? Anyway? Did it begin when you visited
in Washington law Spring? Celia with dancing eyes. Celia shook
her head. No, Mamma. If I had met him, then
(06:14):
I am sure George Hain would never have had anything
to do with the matter, for Cyril would have known
how to help me out of my difficulty. I shall
have to tell you the whole story from my standpoint,
and from the beginning, said Gordon, dreading now that the
crisis was upon him what the outcome would be. I
have wanted you to know who and what I was
(06:35):
before you knew the story, that you might judge me
as kindly as possible, and know that, however I may
have been to blame in the matter, it was through
no intention of mine. My story may sound rather impossible.
I know it will seem improbable, but it is nevertheless true.
Everything that I have to tell, may I hope to
(06:56):
be believed. I think you may, answered the mother, searching
his face anxiously. Those eyes of yours are not lying eyes.
Thank you, he said simply, and then, gathering all his courage,
he plunged into his story. Missus Hathaway was watching him
with searching interest. Jeff had drawn his chair up close
(07:19):
and could scarcely restrain his excitement, and when Gordon told
of his commission, he burst forth explosively, Gee, but that
was a great stunt. I'd have liked to have been
along with you. You must be simply great to be trusted
with a thing like that. But his mother gently reproved him. Hush,
my son, let us hear the story. Celia sat quietly
(07:42):
watching her husband with pride, two bright spots of color
on her cheeks, and her hands clasping each other tightly.
She was hearing many details now that were new to her.
Once more, when Gordon mentioned the dinner at Holman's, Jeff
interrupted with Holman, Holman, not j P. Why of course
(08:04):
we know him. Celia was one of his daughter's bridesmaid's
last spring, the old Lynx. I always thought he was crooked.
People hint a lot of things about him. Jeff, dear,
let us hear the story, again, insisted his mother, and
the story continued. Gordon had been looking down as he talked.
He dreaded to see their faces as the truth should
(08:26):
dawn upon them. But when he had told all, he
lifted honest eyes to the white faced mother and pleaded
with her, Indeed, indeed, I hope you will believe me
that not until they laid your daughter's hand in mine?
Did I know that I was supposed to be the bridegroom?
I thought all the time her brother was the bridegroom.
(08:47):
If I had not been so distraught and trying so
hard to think how to escape, I suppose I would
have noticed that I was standing next to her and
that everything was peculiar about the whole matter. But I didn't.
And then when I suddenly knew that she and I
were being married, what should I have done? Do you
think I ought to have stopped the ceremony then and
(09:09):
there and made a scene before all those people? What
was the right thing to do? Suppose my commission had
been entirely out of the question, and I had had
no duty toward the government to keep entirely quiet about myself.
Do you think I ought to have made a scene?
Would you have wanted me to? For your daughter's sake?
Tell me, please? He insisted gently, and while she hesitated,
(09:35):
he added, I did some pretty hard thinking during that
first quarter of a second that I realized what was happening,
And I tell you, honestly, I didn't know what was
the right thing to do. It seemed awful for her
sake to make a scene, and to tell you the truth,
I worshiped her from the moment my eyes rested upon her.
There was something sad and appealing as she looked at
(09:57):
me that seemed to pledge my very life to save
her from trouble. Tell me, do you think I ought
to have stopped the ceremony? Then? At the first moment
of my realization that I was being married, The mother's
face had softened as she watched him and listened to
his tender words about Celia. And now she answered gently,
(10:18):
I am not sure. Perhaps not. It was a very
grave question to face. I don't know that I can
blame you for doing nothing. It would have been terrible
for her and us and everybody, and have made it
all so public. Oh, I think you did right not
to do anything publicly. Perhaps, and yet it is terrible
(10:40):
to me to think you have been forced to marry
my daughter in that way. Please do not say forced, mother,
said Gordon, laying both hands earnestly upon hers and looking
into her eyes. I tell you, one thing that held
me back from doing anything was that I so earnestly
desired that what I was passing through might be real
(11:02):
and lasting. I have never seen one like her before.
I know that if the mistake had been righted and
she had passed out of my life, I should never
have felt the same again. I am glad, glad with
all my heart that she is mine, and mother, I
think she is glad too. The mother turned toward her daughter,
(11:23):
and Celia, with starry eyes, came and knelt before them,
and laid her hands in the hands of her husband,
saying with ringing voice, yes, dear little mother, I am
gladder than I ever was before in my life. And
kneeling thus, with her husband's arm about her, her face
against his shoulder, and both her hands clasped in his,
(11:46):
she told her mother about the tortures that George Hayne
had put her through, until the mother turned white with
horror at what her beloved and cherished child had been enduring,
and the brother got up and stormed across the floor,
showing vengeance on the luckless head of poor George Hayne. Then,
after the mother had given her blessing to the two
(12:07):
and Jeff had added an original one of his own,
there was the whole story of the eventful wedding trip
to tell, which they both told by solos amid choruses,
until the hour grew alarmingly late, and the mother suddenly
sent them all off to bed. The next few days
were both busy and happy ones for the two. They
went to the hospital and gladdened the life of the
(12:30):
little newsboy with fruit and toys and many promises. And
they brought home a happy white dog from his boarding place,
whom Jeff adopted as his own. Gordon had a trying
hour or two at court with his one time host,
the scoundrel who had stolen the cipher message, and the
thick set man glad at him from a cell window
(12:51):
as he passed along the corridor of the prison, whither
he had gone in search of George Hayne. Gordon, in
his search for the lost whom, for many reasons, he
decided to find as soon as possible, had asked the
help of one of the men at work on the
Holman case in searching for a certain George Hayne, who
needed very much to be brought to justice. Oh you
(13:14):
won't have to search for him, declared the man with
a smile. He safely landed in prison. Three days ago.
He was caught as neatly as rolling off a log
by the son of the man whose name he forged
several years ago. It was trust money of a big corporation,
and the man died in his place in a prison cell.
But the son means to see the real culprit punished,
(13:36):
and so Gordon, in the capacity of Celia's lawyer, went
to the prison to talk with George Hayne, and that
miserable man found no excuse for his sins. When the
searching talk was over, Gordon did not let the man
know who he was, and merely made it understood that
Celia was married, and that if he attempted to make
her any further trouble, the whole thing would be exposed
(13:59):
and he would have to in sir a grave charge
of blackmail. The days passed rapidly, and at last the
New York matter for which Gordon's presence was needed was finished,
and he was free to sail away with his bride.
On the morning of their departure, Gordon's voice rang out
over the miles of telephone wires to his old chief
(14:20):
in Washington. I'm married and I'm just starting on my
wedding trip. Don't you want to congratulate me? And the
old Chief's gruff voice sounded back. Good work, old man.
Congratulations for you both. She may or may not be
the best girl in all the world. I haven't had
a chance to see yet, but she's a lucky girl,
(14:40):
for she's got the best man I know. Tell her
that for me. Bless you both. I'm glad she's going
with you. It won't be so lonesome. Gordon gave her
the message that afternoon, as they sailed straight into the
sunshine of a beautiful new life together. Dear, he said,
as he arranged her steamer rug more comfortably about her,
(15:03):
Has it occurred to you that you are probably the
only bride who ever married the best man at her wedding?
Celia smiled appreciatively, and after a minute replied, mischievously, I
suppose every bride thinks her husband is the best man.
End of Chapter eighteen. End of The Best Man
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Whether you’re a scaredy-cat or a brave bat, this collection of episodes from iHeartPodcasts will put you in the Halloween spirit. Binge stories, frights, and more that may keep you up at night!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.