ely face and interpret its
own wish or will.

It was very true, that, as Saidie Gartney had said, "this had been
going on for years." For years, Faith had found great pleasantness in
the companionship and evident preference of Paul Rushleigh. There had
been nobody to compare with him in her young set in Mishaumok. She knew
he liked her. She had been proud of it. The girlish fancy, that may be
forgotten in after years, or may, fostered by circumstance, endure and
grow into a calm and happy wifehood, had been given to him. And what
troubled her now? Was it that always, when the decisive moment
approaches, there is a little revulsion of timid feminine feeling, even
amidst the truest joy? Or was it that a new wine had been given into
Faith's life, which would not be held in the old bottles? Was she
uncertain--inconstant; or had she spiritually outgrown her old
attachment? Or, was she bewildered, now, out of the discernment of what
was still her heart's desire and need?

Paul was kind, and true, and manly. She recognized all this in him as
surely as ever. If he had turned from, and forgotten her, she would have
felt a pang. What was this, then, that she felt, as he came near, and
nearer?

And then, her father! Had he really begun to count on this? Do men know
how their young daughters feel when the first suggestion comes that they
are not regarded as born for perpetual daughterhood in the father's
house? Would she even encumber his plans, if she clung still to her
maidenly life?

By all these subtleties does the destiny of woman close in upon her.

Margaret Rushleigh's letter was full of delight, and eagerness, and
anticipation. She and Paul had been so charmed with Kinnicutt and
Lakeside; and there had happened to be a furnished house to let for the
season close by the Morrises, and they had persuaded papa to take it.
They were tired of the seashore, and Conway was getting crowded to
death. They wanted a real summer in the country. And then this had
turned up about the mills! Perhaps, now, her father would build, and
they should come up every year. Perhaps Paul would stay altogether, and
superintend. Perhaps--anything! It was all a delightful chaos of
possibilities; with this thing certain, that she and Faith would be
together for the next four months in the glorious summer shine and
bloom.

Miss Gartney's wedding was simple. The stateliness and show were all
reserved for Madison Square.

Mr. Armstrong pronounced