am a great deal happier and have
Wilford all the time.

"Well, as I was telling you, I was measured and fitted, and my figure
praised, until my head was nearly turned, only I did not like the horrid
stays they put on me, squeezing me up and making me feel so stiff. Mrs.
Harvey says no lady does without them, expressing much surprise that I
had never worn them, and so I submit to the powers that be; but every
chance I get here in my room I take them off and throw them on the
floor, where Wilford has stumbled over them two or three times.

"This afternoon the dresses came home, and they do look beautifully,
while every one has belt, and gloves, and ribbons, and sashes, and laces
or muslins to match--fashionable people are so particular about these
things. I have tried them on, and except that I think them too tight,
they fit admirably, and do give me a different air from what Miss
Hazelton's did. But I really believe I like the old ones best, because
you helped to make them; and when Wilford said I must send them home, I
went where he could not see me and cried, because--well, I hardly know
why I cried, unless I feared you might feel badly. Dearest Helen, don't,
will you? I love you just as much, and shall remember you the same as if
I wore the dresses. Dearest sister, I can fancy the look that will come
on your face, and I wish I could be present to kiss it away. Imagine me
there, will you? with my arms around your neck, and tell mother not to
mind. Tell her I never loved her so well as now, and that when I come
home from Europe I shall bring her ever so many things. There is a new
black silk for her in the trunk, and one for each of the aunties, while
for you there is a lovely brown, which Wilford said was just your style,
telling me to select as nice a silk as I pleased, and this he did I
think because he guessed I had been crying. He asked what made my eyes
so red, and when I would not tell him he took me with him to the silk
store and bade me get what I liked. Oh, he is the dearest, kindest
husband, and I love him all the more because I am the least bit afraid
of him.

"And now I must stop, for Wilford says so. Dear Helen, dear all of you,
I can't help crying as I say good-by. Remember little Katy, and if she
ever did anything bad, don't lay it up against her. Kiss Morris and
Uncle Ephraim, and say how much I love them. Darling sister, darling
mother, good-by."

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