nd he wid anoder wife libin'!
Oh, de wickedness ob mankind! But it is a habit dey gibs deirselves,
child'en! 'Deed it is! Nuffin' 'tall but a habit dey gibs deirselves!"
said Aunt Lucy, dogmatically.

"But 'bout de deception, miss?" inquired the cook.

"There will be no reception. The minister was requested to announce from
the chancel that there could be none," replied the young lady.

"Lor'! Lor'! Lor'! An' all dem good t'ings to eat goin' to waste!"
deplored the cook.

"They need not. Cakes and sweetmeats and candies will keep until they are
consumed."

"Yes, miss; but de chickun sallit, an' de bone turkey, an' de pattydy four
craws, dey won't keep till to-morrow, not even on ice."

"I suppose, then, that what cannot be consumed to-day must be lost. I see
no remedy."

"An' whey we gwine to set de dinner table, w'en de dinin' room is all took
up long ob de weddin' feas' spread out on dat yonder stension table? We
ain't got time to take all de fings offen dat!"

"No, indeed, you have not. You had better lock up the dining room, just as
it stands, to wait your mistress' orders, and set the table in the sitting
room."

CHAPTER XXIV

THE FORSAKEN WIFE'S STORY

Having given her last instructions, Miss Meeke returned to the drawing
room, where she found the new guest, extended at length on the blue,
velvet sofa, with her chubby hands clasped under her head on one end and
her stoutly booted feet elevated on the other. She was fast asleep and
snoring sonorously.

Wynnette and Elva were standing gazing on her, with their faces full of
guilty fear.

"What is the matter here?" inquired the governess.

"Oh, Miss Meeke," exclaimed Wynnette, "I'm afraid she's half seas over! I
mean--I mean----"

"Elva, do you tell me what is all this--if you know," said the governess,
seeing that Wynnette had broken down in her attempt to explain.

"Oh, Miss Meeke," said Elva, taking up the thread of the discourse, "when
we finished playing the duet, she there on the sofa asked for a glass of
wine, and Wynnette and I went ourselves to get it for her, and we went
into the dining room, where the beautiful wedding table is set out and all
the wines in cut-glass decanters on the sideboard. And--and--I am
afraid--I know--we made a mistake and poured out a claret glass full of
cognac brandy and brought it to her."

"And did she drink it?"

"Every drop! And she said it was proof brandy, and worth a bottle of
common stuff!