d."

"Did he tell you that?" Kate asked, with intense scorn.

"Certainly, and he left his farewells for you, as he hadn't time even to
stop to see you."

"It is well that he didn't attempt it," Kate replied, with spirit; "I
would have told him to his face that he lied."

"What do you mean by such language?" her father demanded, angrily; "do
you doubt his word to me?"

"I haven't a doubt that he was called away suddenly, but I saw him when
he received the message, and he didn't appear like a man called by
sickness. He was terribly excited,--so excited he did not even see me
when he passed me; and he was angry, for he cursed both the message and
the man who brought it."

"Excited? Naturally; he was excited in talking with me, and his anger,
no doubt, was over the postponement of the wedding. You show yourself
very foolish in getting angry in turn. This is a devilishly awkward
affair, though, thank heaven, there's no disgrace or scandal attached to
it, and we must make the best we can of it. I have already sent
messengers to the church to disperse the guests as they arrive, and have
also sent a statement of the facts to the different papers, so there
will be no garbled accounts or misstatements to-morrow morning."

"Father," said Kate, drawing herself up with new dignity as he paused,
"I want you to understand that this is no childish anger or pique on my
part. I have not told all that I saw, nor is it necessary at present;
but I saw enough that my eyes are opened to his real character. I want
you to understand that I will never marry him! I will die first!"

Her father's face grew dark with anger at her words, but the eyes
looking fearlessly into his own never quailed. Perhaps he recognized his
own spirit, for he checked the wrathful words he was about to speak and
merely inquired,--

"Are you going to make a fool of yourself and involve this affair in a
scandal, or will you allow it to pass quietly and with no unpleasant
notoriety?"

"You can dispose of it among outsiders as you please, papa, but I want
you to understand my decision in this matter, and that it is
irrevocable."

"Until you come to your senses!" he retorted, and left the room.

With comparatively little excitement the guests dispersed, and no one,
not even Darrell or Mr. Britton, knew aught beyond the statement made by
Mr. Underwood.

Some particular friends of Kate's, living in a remote part of the State,
thinking it might be rather embar