would not come until the morning of the ceremony, but other relatives
were there in force. Mrs. Archdale's brother,--a little patronizing but
very rich and gracious, and his family who having been well patronized,
were disposed to be humble and admiring, and her sister who not having
fed on the roses of life, had a good deal of wholesome strength about
her, together with a touch of something which, if it were wholesome, was
not exactly grateful. Cousins of Mr. Archdale were there also. Elizabeth
Royal, at Katie's special request, had been her guest for the last ten
days. Her father had gone home again the day he brought her and was
unable to return for the wedding and to take his daughter home
afterward, as he had intended; but he had sent Mrs. Eveleigh, his cousin
and housekeeper. It seemed strange that the father and daughter were so
companionable, for superficially they were entirely unlike. Mr. Royal
was considered stern and shrewd, and, though a well-read man, eminently
practical, more inclined to business than scholarship, while Elizabeth
was dreamy, generous, wholly unacquainted with business of any kind, and
it seemed too much uninterested in it ever to be acquainted. To most
people the affection between them seemed only that of nature and
circumstances, Elizabeth being an only child, and her mother having died
while she was very young. It is the last analysis of character that
discovers the same trait under different forms. None of her friends
carried analysis so far, and it was possible that no effort could have
discovered subtle likeness then. Perhaps it was still latent and would
only hereafter find some outward expression for itself. It sometimes
happens that physical likeness comes out only after death, mental not
until late in life, and likeness of character in the midst of unlikeness
is revealed usually only in the crucible of events.

That day, Elizabeth, from her window overlooking the garden, had seen a
picture that she never forgot. It was about noon, all the warmth that