Tears at the altar

Jilted curate’s agony –  Nottingham Evening Post, 3 July 1925:

Unites to his rival the girl who rejected him – M. Arna, a Swiss Protestant curate who had been jilted by his fiancee, was called on in his professional capacity to marry her to his rival a few days ago at Mallone, a village in the Lower Engadine. When the ceremony began, the curate lost control of himself and pleaded passionately with the girl to reconsider her decision which, he said, would ruin his life. The father and mother of the bride supported the curate, and asked their daughter, who was in tears, to postpone the marriage, but she refused. The discussion lasted some time at the foot of the altar while the bridegroom looked on in anger. Eventually M.Arna, realising his position as a curate, asked the couple to allow him to retire for a few minutes in order to pray. He returned to the altar and performed the marriage ceremony, but broke down when the couple left the church and had to be helped to his home.