f a matron.

"Agreed!" cried Mr. Demetrius. "Besides it will be much better if we do
not see him."

"My second request is that I may take the furniture I have been used to
and my flowers along with me to the place where I have to go."

"Granted, a harmless feminine caprice. Be it so!"

"In the third place I should like the papers grandfather knows of to be
given back to him whom it most concerns."

"Certainly," said Mr. Demetrius, "I promised, did I not, that it should
form part of your marriage portion. Mr. Sipos, would you be so good as
to place these documents in the hands--of the proper person?"

Mr. Sipos bowed and promised to carry out the mournful commission.

"And now, my girl, the marriage-contract is before you, the baron has
already signed it and awaits your decision in the adjoining room. Show
us what a nice hand you can write."

And Henrietta did show it. She signed her name there in such pretty
little delicately rounded letters that it looked as if some fairy had
breathed a spell upon the page.

"And just one thing more, my dear young lady," put in Mr. Sipos
politely, "while the pen is still in your hand, would you be so good as
to write down on the cover of the returned documents a particular word,
that particular word, I mean, which is known only to yourself and one
other person in the world, as a proof that your renunciation is genuine
and irrevocable."

The girl fixed her mysterious black eyes for a long time on those of
the lawyer. It was in her power to deceive him if she would and he knew
it well. At last she gently stooped over the bundle of papers and
pressing down the pen with unusual firmness she wrote that barbarously
sounding name of a beautiful bright star: "Mesarthim" and then quietly
laid down the pen. There was not the slightest sign of agitation in her
face. Could it be the right word?

"And now the bridegroom can come in and the necessary pre-nuptial legal
formalities can be carried out."

* * * * *

When Mr. Sipos got home he went straight up to the room of his young
protege.

"My dear fellow," said he, "I have brought you some medicine. As you
know, medicine is generally nasty and bitter, but perhaps none the worse
on that account. As I said beforehand, the young lady reconsidered her
position, chose the better way and consented to the marriage with the
baron. The betrothal is an accomplished fact and they signed the
marriage contract be