o plan
for the dinner, which was to be more elaborate than usual, and served an
hour later, so as to give plenty of time for Gretchen to rest and dress
herself if she wished to do so.

'And she will when she sees the lovely dress I have for her,' he thought
to himself, and after his brother had gone he went to the large closet
where he kept the long black trunk which he called Gretchen's, and into
which Dolly's curious eyes had never looked, although she longed to know
the contents.

This Arthur now opened, and had Dolly been there she would have held
her breath in wonder at the many beautiful things it contained.
Folded in one of the trays, as only a French packer accustomed to
the business could have arranged it, was an exquisite dinner-dress of
salmon-colored satin, with a brocaded front and jacket of blue and gold,
and here and there a knot of duchess lace, which gave it a more airy
effect. This Arthur took out carefully and laid upon the bed in his
sleeping-apartment, together with every article of the toilet necessary
to such a dress, from a lace pocket handkerchief to a pair of pale-blue
silk hose, which he kissed reverently as he whispered to himself:

'Dear little feet, which, no doubt, are so cold now in the wretched car;
but they will never be cold when once I have them here.'

He was talking in German, as he always did when Gretchen was the subject
of his thought, and so Dolly, who came to say that some things which he
had ordered for dinner were impossible now, could not understand him,
but she caught a glimpse of the dress upon the bed, and advanced quickly
toward the open door, exclaiming:

'Oh, Arthur, what a lovely gown! Whose--?'

But before she completed her question Arthur was upon the threshold and
had closed the door, saying as he did so:

'It is Gretchen's. I had it made at Worth's. She is coming to-night, you
know.'

Dolly had heard from her husband of Arthur's fancy, and though she had
no faith in it, she replied:

'Yes, Frank told me you were expecting her again, and I came to say that
we cannot get the fish you ordered, for no one can go to town in this
storm, and I doubt if we could find it if we did. You will have to skip
the fish.'

'All right; all right. Gretchen will be too much excited to care,'
Arthur replied, standing with his hand upon the door-knob until Dolly
left the room and went to this kitchen, where Frank was interviewing the
coachman.

He had found that importan