the world; all the girls thought so too, and that was real good. She'd
have hated a stupid, ordinary man. Fancy being married to Seth Stevens,
and she shuddered; yet he was a sight better than any of the others; he
had even seemed handsome to her once. Ugh! Then Bancroft's face came
before her again, and remembering his kisses she flushed and grew hot
from head to foot. They would be married soon--right off. As George
hadn't the money, her father must give what he could and they'd go East.
Her father wouldn't refuse, though he'd feel bad p'r'aps; he never
refused her anythin'. If fifteen hundred dollars would be enough for
George alone, three thousand would do for both of them. Once admitted as
a lawyer, he would get a large practice: he was so clever and hard-
working. She was real glad that she'd be the means of giving him the
opportunity he wanted to win riches and position. But he must begin in
New York. She would help him on, and she'd see New York and all the
shops and elegant folk, and have silk dresses. They'd live in a hotel
and get richer and richer, and she'd drive about with--here she grew hot
again. The vision, however, was too entrancing to be shut out; she saw
herself distinctly driving in an open carriage, with a negro nurse
holding the baby all in laces in front, "jest too cute for anythin',"
and George beside her, and every one in Fifth Avenue starin'.

Sleep soon brought confusion into her picture of a happy future; but
when she awoke, the glad confidence of the previous night had given
place to self-reproach and fear. During the breakfast she scarcely spoke
or lifted her eyes. Her silent preoccupation was misunderstood by
Bancroft; he took it to mean that she didn't care what happened to him;
she was selfish, he decided. All the morning she went about the house in
a state of nervous restlessness, and at dinner-time her father noticed
her unusual pallor and low spirits. To the Elder, the meal-times were
generally a source of intense pleasure. He was never tired of feasting