, was vaguely
troubled.

On the day of the reception both Mr. Underwood and Darrell lunched and
dined down town, returning together to The Pines in the interim between
the afternoon and evening entertainments. As Darrell sprang from the
carriage and ran up the stairs the servants were already turning on the
lights temporarily suspended within the veranda and throughout the
grounds, so that the place seemed transformed into a bit of fairyland.
He heard chatter and laughter, and caught glimpses of young
ladies--special guests from out of town--flitting from room to room, but
Kate was nowhere to be seen.

Going to his room, he quickly donned an evening suit, not omitting a
dainty boutonniere awaiting him on his dressing-case, and betook himself
to the libraries across the hall, where, by previous arrangement, Kate
was to call for him when it was time to go downstairs.

From below came the ceaseless hum of conversation, the constant ripple
of laughter, mingled with bits of song, and the occasional strains of a
waltz. Reading was out of the question. Sinking into the depths of a
large arm-chair, Darrell was soon lost in dreamy reverie, from which he
was roused by a slight sound.

Looking up, he saw framed in the arched doorway between the two rooms a
vision, like and yet so unlike the maiden for whom he waited and who had
occupied his thoughts but a moment before that he gazed in silent
astonishment, uncertain whether it were a reality or part of his dreams.
For a moment the silence was unbroken; then,--

"How do you like my gown?" said the Vision, demurely.

Darrell sprang to his feet and approached slowly, a new consciousness
dawning in his soul, a new light in his eyes. Of the style or texture of
her gown, a filmy, gleaming mass of white, he knew absolutely nothing;
he only knew that its clinging softness revealed in new beauty the
rounded outlines of her form; that its snowy sheen set off the exquisite
moulding of her neck and arms; that its long, shimmering folds
accentuated the height and grace of her slender figure; but a knowledge
had come to him in that moment like a revelation, stunning, bewildering
him, thrilling his whole being, irradiating every lineament of his face.

"I know very little about ladies' dress," he said apologetically, "and I
fear I may express myself rather bunglingly, but to me the chief beauty
of your gown consists in the fact that it reveals and enhances the
beauty of the wearer; in th