you
love me.'

Josie's answer was a kiss that promised all things; and then she ran
away to do her 'gentle spiriting', like Ariel, leaving Demi to dream
among the roses like Ferdinand.

Mary and Ludmilla were charmed with their bouquets; and the giver had
the delight of putting some of the flowers into the dark hair and
the light as she played maid at the toilettes of 'our brides', which
consoled her for a disappointment in the matter of veils.

No one helped Alice dress; for Daisy was in the next room with her
mother; and not even their loving eyes saw the welcome which the little
posy received, nor the tears and smiles and blushes that came and went
as she read the note and pondered what answer she should give. There was
no doubt about the one she wished to give; but duty held her back; for
at home there was an invalid mother and an old father. She was needed
there, with all the help she could now bring by the acquirements four
years of faithful study had given her. Love looked very sweet, and a
home of her own with John a little heaven on earth; but not yet. And
she slowly laid away the full-blown rose as she sat before the mirror,
thinking over the great question of her life.

Was it wise and kind to ask him to wait, to bind him by any promise,
or even to put into words the love and honour she felt for him? No; it
would be more generous to make the sacrifice alone, and spare him the
pain of hope deferred. He was young; he would forget; and she would do
her duty better, perhaps, if no impatient lover waited for her. With
eyes that saw but dimly, and a hand that lingered on the stem he had
stripped of thorns, she laid the half-blown flower by the rose, and
asked herself if even the little bud might be worn. It looked very poor
and pale beside the others; yet being in the self-sacrificing mood which
real love brings, she felt that even a small hope was too much to give,
if she could not follow it up with more.

As she sat looking sadly down on the symbols of an affection that grew
dearer every moment, she listened half unconsciously to the murmur of
voices in the adjoining room. Open windows, thin partitions, and the
stillness of summer twilight made it impossible to help hearing, and in
a few moments more she could not refrain; for they were talking of John.

'So nice of Ludmilla to bring us all bottles of real German cologne!
Just what we need after this tiring day! Be sure John has his! He likes
it so!'

'Y