or her brother's niece, or her nephew's aunt had fainted just before her
wedding or during it, till it began to seem quite a common performance,
and one furnishing a unique and interesting part of the program for a
wedding ceremony.

Meanwhile on a couch in the big gloomy vestry room lay Betty with a
group of attendants about her. Her eyes were closed, and she made no
move. She swallowed the aromatic ammonia that some one produced, and she
drew her breath a little less feebly, but she did not open her eyes, nor
respond when they spoke to her.

Her stepmother stooped over finally and spoke in her ear:

"Elizabeth Stanhope! sit up and control yourself!" she said sharply in a
low tone. "You are making a spectacle of yourself that you can never get
over. Your father would be ashamed of you if he were here!"

It was the one argument that had been held a successful lash over her
poor little quivering heart for the last five years, and Betty flashed
open her sorrowful eyes and looked around on them with a troubled
concentration as if she were just taking in what had happened:

"I'm so tired!" she said in a little weary voice. "Won't you just let me
get my breath a minute?"

The physician nodded emphatically toward the door and motioned them out:

"She'll be all right in just a minute. Step outside and give her a
chance to get calm. She's only worn out with excitement."

She opened her eyes and looked furtively about the room. There was no
one there, and the door was closed. She could hear them murmuring in low
tones just beyond it. She looked wildly about her with a frantic thought
of escape. The two windows were deeply curtained, giving a narrow
glimpse of blank wall. She sprang softly to her feet and looked out.
There was a stone pavement far below. She turned silently and tried a
door. It opened into a closet overflowing with musty hymn-books. She
closed it quickly and slipped back to her couch just in time as the door
opened and the doctor came back. She could catch a glimpse of the others
through the half open door, anxiously peering in. She gathered all her
self-control and spoke:

"I'm all right now, Doctor," she said quite calmly. "Would you just ask
them to send Bessemer here a minute?"

"Certainly." The doctor turned courteously and went back to the door,
half closing it and making her request in a low tone. Then her
stepmother's excited sibilant whisper:

"Bessemer! Why, he isn't here! He went down to th