arranging the ferns and
carnations of her conservatory, her thoughts reverted to the previous
evening, which Mr. Dunbar had spent with her; and she could not avoid
indulging regret, that he should have allowed business affairs to
interfere with their engagement for horseback riding, but her reverie
was speedily interrupted by the excited tones of her aunt's voice.

"Leo! Leo! Where do you hide yourself?"

"Here, Auntie, in the conservatory."

"Oh! my child, such dreadful news! Such a frightful tragedy!"

Pale and panting, Miss Patty ran down the arcade, and stumbled over a
barricade of potted plants on the threshold of the door.

"What is the matter? Is it my Uncle, or--or Lennox?"

Leo sprang to her feet, and caught her aunt's arm.

"Horrible! horrible! General Darrington was robbed, and then most
brutally murdered last night!"

"Murdered! Can it be possible? Murdered--by whom?"

"How should I know? The whole town is wild about it. My brother is at
Elm Bluff, with the body, and I shall take the carriage and drive over
there at once. Dear me; I am so nervous I can't stand still, and my
teeth chatter like a pair of castanets."

"Perhaps there may be some mistake. How did you hear it?"

"Your Uncle Mitchell sent a boy to tell me why he was detained. There
has been a coroner's inquest, and of course, as an old and intimate
friend of General Darrington's, Mitchell feels he must do all he can.
Poor old gentleman! So proud and aristocratic! To be murdered in his
own house, like any common pauper! Positively it makes me sick. May the
Lord have mercy on his soul."

"Amen!" murmured Leo.

"Will you go with me to Elm Bluff?"

"Oh, no! Not for worlds. Why should I? Women will only be in the way;
and who could desire to contemplate so horrible a spectacle? It will
merely harrow your feelings, Aunt Patty, and you can do no good."

"It is my Christian duty as a neighbor; and I was always very fond of
the first Mrs. Darrington, Helena Tracey. What is this wicked world
coming to? Robbery and murder stalking bare-faced through the land. It
will be a dreadful blow to Mitchell, because he and Luke Darrington
have been intimate all their lives. I see the carriage coming round, so
I must get my bonnet and wrap."

"I presume Mr. Dunbar is engaged in the same melancholy details which
occupy my uncle."

"Doubtless he is, because his father was General Darrington's attorney
until his health failed; and Lennox is now his law