her face, and looked at
Romney defiantly.

"You are thinking of--THAT," she cried, "and I am thinking of it. And we
will go on, thinking of it at intervals for the rest of our lives. But
if you ever mention it to me I'll never forgive you, Romney Penhallow!"

"I never will," Romney promised. There was more than a suspicion of
laughter in his voice this time, but Lucinda did not choose to resent
it. She did not speak again until they reached the Grange gate. Then she
faced him solemnly.

"It was a case of atavism," she said. "Old Grandfather Gordon was to
blame for it."

At the Grange almost everybody was in bed. What with the guests
straggling home at intervals and hurrying sleepily off to their rooms,
nobody had missed Lucinda, each set supposing she was with some other
set. Mrs. Frederick, Mrs. Nathaniel and Mrs. George alone were up. The
perennially chilly Mrs. Nathaniel had kindled a fire of chips in the
blue room grate to warm her feet before retiring, and the three women
were discussing the wedding in subdued tones when the door opened
and the stately form of Lucinda, stately even in the dragged voile,
appeared, with the damp Romney behind her.

"Lucinda Penhallow!" gasped they, one and all.

"I was left to walk home," said Lucinda coolly. "So Romney and I came
across the fields. There was no bridge over the brook, and when he was
carrying me over he slipped and we fell in. That is all. No, Cecilia, I
never take cold, so don't worry. Yes, my dress is ruined, but that is of
no consequence. No, thank you, Cecilia, I do not care for a hot drink.
Romney, do go and take off those wet clothes of yours immediately. No,
Cecilia, I will NOT take a hot footbath. I am going straight to bed.
Good night."

When the door closed on the pair the three sisters-in-law stared at
each other. Mrs. Frederick, feeling herself incapable of expressing her
sensations originally, took refuge in a quotation:

"'Do I sleep, do I dream, do I wonder and doubt? Is things what they
seem, or is visions about?'"

"There will be another Penhallow wedding soon," said Mrs. Nathaniel,
with a long breath. "Lucinda has spoken to Romney AT LAST."

"Oh, WHAT do you suppose she said to him?" cried Mrs. George.

"My dear Cecilia," said Mrs. Frederick, "we shall never know."

They never did know.

VI. Old Man Shaw's Girl

"Day after to-morrow--day after to-morrow," said Old Man Shaw, rubbing
his long slender hands together gle