open-hearted young man, and he was very fond of you."

"Yes, I suppose so," answered the girl, with an effort to merge a smile
into the expression accompanying a sympathetic sigh. "It's too bad. But,
then, men must look out for themselves, women have to, and Kenelm Waldo
probably thinks he is worth any woman's heart."

"So he is, Katie."

"Um!" said the girl. "Well, he'd be wiser to be a little humble about
it. It takes better."

"Do you call Stephen humble?"

Katie laughed merrily. "But," she said, at last, "Stephen is Stephen,
and humility wouldn't suit him. He would look as badly without his pride
as without his lace ruffles."

"Is it his lace ruffles you're in love with, my child?"

"I don't know, mother," and she laughed again. "When should a young girl
laugh if not on the eve of her marriage with the man of her choice, when
friends and wealth conspire to make the event auspicious?"

"I shall not write to thank Elizabeth for her gift," she said, "for she
will be here before a letter can reach her. She leaves Boston to-morrow,
that's Tuesday, and she must be here by Friday, perhaps Thursday night,
if they start very early."

"I thought Master Royal's letter said Monday?"