A CRADLE MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8264, 24 May 1890, Page 3 (Supplement)

A CRADLE MYSTERY.

BY MBS. GEORGIK SHELDON. Author of "'Queen Boss," "The Forsaken Bride," " Brownie's Triumph," etc. CHAPTER XVI. AGNES BELIEVES MAX FALSE TO HER. fop. several minutes she stood like a jtaUte, glaring wrathfully down upon the fragrant beautiful buds. She was half tempted t> <$ssh them to the floor and crush them beneath her feet, stamping all life and perfume out of them, even as she would have liked to crush out all beauty from the face of her rival. But the expression of her countenance suddenly changed and a gleam of malicious triumph came into her eyes.

She had heard enough that morning to know that Max had made no declaration of love, that one word "darling" had been bat the beginning of what he had wanted to say, when she interrupted him so opportunely ; there was no reference in the note to show that anything more had ever passed between them, and he had used no name, in writing it, to show for whom it bad been intended. Why, should she not profit by the blunder that had been made by the strange girl? Assume that both flowers and note had been intended for her, that she was the object of Max Remington's devotion and thus win, by stratagem, what she had failed to secure by long weeks of simulated sweetness and irksome good behaviour? " 1 will do it," she muttered, with sudden resolution, after considering the matter in till its bearings. "1 will keep this lloral otic-ring and love-sick epistle, and our pretty saint shall never know, if I can help it, that they were sent to her. But," with a diabolical flash of her midnight eyes, "1 think I will confide in her, tell her of the ; conquest I have made, and blushiugly solicit htjr congratulations for my happiness and brilliant prospects. That will at once put I her on her dignity with milord, and sorve j to keep him at- a proper distance. " But, let me see," she added, with sodden thought, "she is to war white tonight. I will substitute white for the garnet and old gold, though it will cost me a struggle not to we.a' the elegant thing,' with a regretful glance at an exquisite costume that lay upon the bed ready to be put on. " 1 will go to the ' balcony, at the rear of the drawing-room, at eight o'clock," with these dainty buds on my breast, 'as the pledge of my dear love,' and in the r iarkness he will doubtless mistake me for his 'darling,' compromise himself still further, by completing the interrupted avowal of the morning, and be accepted on the spot ! 1 imagine this will be rather a stunner for the gentleman, when he discovers to whom he has proposed ; but he fvill hardly have the face to back down, and if he should show signs of it a threatened breach of promise suit, together with a little secret that I shall breathe in bis ear. will doubtless bring him to terms.'" With a little gleeful laugh over her own cleverness and finest, this consummate iturujiiafe turned once more to her where, with a few swift, skilful touches, she completed the arrangement of her hair her face flowing with malicious triumph meanwhile. She then donned a pretty white wrapper, and, taking up Max's box of Sowers and note, moved toward the door that separated her room from that of Agnes. She stopped, however, before reaching it, end stood thinking a moment. " tie asked her to let him get some Bowers for her, and she might suspect that something is wrong, if she does not get them." she murmured. She went back to her dressing-table, removed a tew choice sprays of begonias and maiden-hair fern from a vase, then, taking the beautiful buds from the box in her hand, she laid them in it, tossing upon tbein one of Max's cards, which she happened to have, and, thus equipped for her evil work, glided to Agnes' door and rapped lightly upon it. It was opened almost immediately, and the girl's happy face, exquisitely flushed by her recent nap, looked out upon her. '• Oh !" she cried, with a smile and look of surprise, " you have your hair all arranged, and how lovely it looks. I am afraid I shall be very late; but—what beautiful roses !" she concluded, as her tyes fell upon the Sowers in Laura's hand. "Aren't they? They're Max's choice for me, to wear this evening : a servant brought them up a few moments ago." She bent to inhale their fragrance, touching them caressingly with her lips as she did so. Then, locking up again, she added

"And here are some for you, with Mr. Remington's compliments." Acnes took the box which she extended to her, a trifle chilled by the fact that she ha! to receive her flowers through Miss Potaeroy, while, too, she could not fail to notice her manner of adopting the names the familiar " Max'' for herself, the formal " Mr. Remington"' for her.

She removed the cover, thus revealing the richly-tinted but scentless begonias and for.".;, arid it struck her that Max had been rather ceremonious in sending his card with then. Though she was as {free from petty jealousy as it is possible for anyone to be, ?he had realised at a glance the exceeding beauty and cost of the perfect buds in Laura's hand, and thought it very strange that her lover should have made such a marked distinction in his gifts.

She quietly thanked Laura, and was about to set the box upon the table, when her companion leaned forward, asking, with assumed interest :

" What have you ? begonias and ferns ; how very delicate. They are just suited to style, and will look very pretty with your simple white dress. And—l have desided to wear white, too," she concluded,

with a coyness which Agnes now noticed for the first time.

"Why, I thought you were going to wear that beautiful dress that came yesterday," Agnes replied, looking greatly sur-

prised. " I did intend to, butl think I will reBerve it for the Abbot party which is to come off next week. I—believe that white will be more congenial to my feelings to-

night."' She stopped in apparent confusion, and Agnes wondered what bad disturbed her habitual self-possession to such a degree, and caused such a brilliant colour, such happy, dimpling smiles, such a dazzling light in her dark eyes. " Something has happened this afternoon to make me very happy," Laura continued, "and my heart is so full that I feel as if I must confide in somebody. Can you guess what I want to tell you, Agnes ?" The girl was a wonderful actress, and she called up a charmingly conscious blush as she lifted her eyes, for a moment, and then quickly averted them. " No, I do not think I can," Agnes replied, without a suspicion of the cruel blow in store for her, and yet with a strange heart-sinking that seemed unaccountable. " But I am very glad that you have been made so happy. Have you found your uncle, for whom you have been looking so

long ?" " No, you dear little innocont," responded Laura, tapping her playfully on the shoulder —it was like some vicious eat playing with her prey before striking her deadly claws into its heart—"hut, instead, I have found

—my mate !" A great shock ran throughout Agnes' frame at this ; still she could not have put this sudden presentiment of coming evil into words.

She made no reply, but lifted a surprised, inquiring look to Miss Pomeroy's brilliant f !uce.

" You did not suspect anything of the kind, did you, dear?" said the girl, taking a secret delight in prolonging her victim's suspense. " Well, the denouement came rather suddenly to me, too, but none the less acceptably on that account; for—l will confess it to you— had learned to live the gentleman before I came to America."

Agnes breathed more freely at this, and her heart gathered hope once more, for ib inupt be someone whom Laura had known

in England that she was going to marry. " I hope you will be very happy," she Paid, gently, but too sensitive and delicate to inquire the name of the gentleman. "Thank you," Laura returned, dropping her eyas again with apparent bashfulness, but really to hide the sparkle cf triumph that gleamed in them. ' I am just too happy already—that is why I could not ieep it to myself, but had to come to tell you. You won't speak of it, of course, be* cause it isn't really an engagement just jet; I only received this little note"—

•glancing at the folded paper in her hand— *' to-day, telling mo that I am loved, and imploring mo to be prepared to give my answer to-night. You will bo sure to keep this confidential, please, for— do not believe that Max has even spoken to his mother about it yet." It was well for Agnes that the hardships of her life had given her self-control, else she must have humiliatingly betrayed herself at this terrible stab. As it was, it seemed as if a heavy hammer, driven by some mighty power, had suddenly crushed all the life out of her heart; a mist came before her sight, making her , | blind ; her cars rang, and she wondered if she should ever get her breath again. Max ! her almost acknowledged lover ! It could not be possibleshe would not believe it; he was too noble, too thoroughly honourable, to ask Laura Pomeroy to be his wife, after having so eagerly sought to win her love. She would not believe him so base as this would prove him to be. But, fortunately for her, Laura read nothing of all this, and she wondered at the t-'irl s marvellous command over herself ; for, though she had grown somewhat pale, she stood perfectly still, and gave no sign of the agony of her heart. '' Max !' she repeated, mechanically— Mr. Remington ? " Why, yes, of course ; there is no other ' Max'in the world," said Miss Pomeroy, an exultant note ringing through her tone. "He is a king, head and shoulders above other men : I am very proud of him. He has asked me to wear these roses as the sign of my acceptance of his suit; hero is his notesuch a fond, earnest one, too !— you may read it if you like, though I would not show it to ever} body," and unfolding | the sheet in her hand, she held it out be- ! fore the wretched girl. Agnes instinctively recoiled from it, but ! not before she had caught a glimpse of the name "Max" at the bottom of those few lines, and also recognised his handwriting. She was far too delicately organised to wish to read any love-letter intended for oik; alone ; least of all would she road anything of a tender nature that Max had penned to another, after what had passed in the library that morning. How terribly she had been misled !—how humiliated she felt !—how blank her life had suddenly become ! for she had thoroughly believed in him, trusted him, idolised him ; and now this went to prove that he had only been playing, amusing himself at her expense. Could she ever have faith in man after this ? It was like wrenching her soul from her body, at one fell stroke, to have it burst upon her like this, at the very moment, too, when she bad believed her cup of joy full to the brim. But it would never do to betray it; Laura must never suspect what she suffered as she stood there and listened to the story of her conquest., and her praises of the lover she had won. With a mighty effort she lifted her eyes I and let them rest on those lovely buds, and, even forcing a smile to her lips, she quietly remarked : " our roses are a beautiful pink—his favourite colour, I suppose." What mockery those last words contained only her own suffering heart would ever know; for, but a few hours previous, Max had asked her if she would " wear his colourshad told her that lie " would choose the brightest and choicest things of earth for her. - ' Had he told Laura the same in the note he had written to her? she wondered, with a bitterness such as she had never before experienced. " His favourite colour for to-night, at any rate, the heartless girl replied, exulting in the agony she knew she was inflictine, in spite of the dauntless bearing of the delicate girl. " But," she added, "I must go, or I shall never be ready, and my nerves are, of course, not quite as steady as usual, after what has occurred. Good-bye, dear, for a little while. If I have anything you would like to add to your toilet, pray, feel free to let me know." She turned, and disappeared from the room, leaving Agnes standing, like a block of marble, in the middle of the floor, and feeling as if she were literally turning to stone. Oh, what did it all mean ? Was it an actual fact ? She could not comprehend it, even though Laura's exultant words seemed to be branded upon her brain in letters of fire. If it were only a dream, a vision, or some terrible illusion—anything but a dreadful reality, she thought she could endure it indefinitely. But to find that Max was false—that she had allowed herself to wreck her own life by loving him and taking him into the very utmost recess of her heart, where she had enshrined him next to her God, caused her the keenest agony. Presently she staggered back to her lounge, uj)on which she sank, with a long, shuddering sigh. For many minutes she lay there, wishing she never need move again—that oblivion would steal upon her and blot out the torturing memories that seemed to scorch her brain ; dreading, more than she had yet dreaded anything, the ordeal through which she must pass during the next few hours.

If she could only go home, and escape the coming reception—the inevitable meeting with Max, the inquiring gaze of Mrs. Remington when she should see her pale cheeks and dull eyes—home, to her mother.

And yet—it suddenly came to her—it would never do to let her mother know of this crushing trouble that had come, like a thunderbolt, to wreck her life. The know-

ledge of it would only make her ill and wretched.

No, she must hide it all within her own heart, and bear it as best she could. But how could she bear it ? It did not seem as

if there were strength enough in human nature to endure such trouble as hers and

make no sign. But her pride suddenly rose to arms. "I will bear it! I will brave it out !" she cried, sitting erect, and crimsoning to the roots of her golden hair. "He shall never suspect into what depths he has plunged me. Fortunately I had no time this morning to betray or commit myself ; she shall never know how the lover she is

so proud of having won has betrayed the trust of an innocent girl. I will not think

of running away ; I will go down to that company wearing smiles and an indifferent exterior. Will he expect to see his flowers, I wonder?—his colours !" she said, with a bitter smile on her quivering lips. She arose, deliberately walked to the table where she had laid the box, and

taking it to the grate, emptied its contents upon the ashes it contained, and threw the box after them.

Then turning to her dressing-case, she began to prepare for the reception, which had now lost all his attractions for her, and just then a servant came in, bringing a cup of tea, with a dainty plate of toast, that Mrs. Remington had sent up, as they were to dispense with their regular tea that night.

Agnes drank the tea, and forced herself to eat the toast, for she knew that she

must brace up her strength, or she could not-act the part she had imposed upon herself for the next few hours.

Then she begun to dress. She had arranged her hair as she always wore it—high upon her small head, with the pretty rings clustering about her forehead. Her dress was very simply made, but fitted her exquisitely ; the only change she had made in it had been to turn it

away in a V at the neck and fill in the space with beaded lace;,the sleeves also had been removed, and full lace ones substituted, through which her fair arms gleamed like sculptured marble. A few rich, heavy satin bows had been added to the skirt where it was draped, and these completed the smple but beautiful costume. There was not an ornament of any kind about her, but she looked like some

fair, golden-crowned princess, with her shining hair, her trailing white robe, and her stately bearing. Agnes, however, was far from satisfied with her appearance, as she looked into her glass and noted her colourless face and pale lips. "I am too white—my face is too much of a tell-tale ; I have no flowers," with a scornful glance at the vivid, discarded begonias lying in the grate, "but I must have some contrasting colour to brighten me up." She rang her bell, and Annie, Mrs. Remington's maid, soon came tripping into the room to see what she wanted.

"Oh!" cried the girl, as she caught sight of Agnes ; then she suddenly checked herself, bub her face glowed and her eyes shone with appreciation of her exceeding loveliness.

"Annie, wasn't there some similax left this afternoon, after the decorator had finished the rooms ?" Agnes inquired,

"Yes, miss, heaps of it," she replied, and then was upon the point of asking if she had received the box that Mr. Remington had sont, when her quick eye caught sight of it and the despised flowers in the grate, and she knew at once that something had gone wrong and so hold her peace. " Will you bring me some—a good deal, please?" Agnes asked, and the girl went at once to do her bidding, wondering what had happened, and why Miss Walton looked so white and miserable.

She soon procured the sniilax, however, and retraced her stops, with a basket piled high with the delicate glossy vine. "Now help me, Annie, for a few moment's," Agnes said, as she thanked her and took it from her ; ,l I want to make a rope of this."

The two girls worked nimbly, and ere long they had twined a thick, glassy rope four or live yards long and about half as large as Agnes' wrist. Fastening one end of this whore her corsage met, low on her bosom, she carried it under her loft arm, entirely round her waist, and then allowed the remainder to hang as it would. The result was quaint, but very lovely, and affordod just the contrast that was needed to make her costume strikingly effective.

"It is just as pretty as it can bo," said Annie, admiringly ; then she added to herself : " Her dress doesn't amount to much, as far as cost goes, but there won't be anybody downstairs to-night that will be half so lovely. 1 wonder it she put paint on her face while I was goneshe was awfully pale before.

It was not surprising the girl Should imagine this lust, for the excitement of dressing had brought a vivid. scarlet to Agnes' cheeks, and it is impossible to conceive a more beautiful picture than she mode.

" What time is it, Annie !" she asked, as she began to draw on her gloves. "Ten minutes to eight, miss." Just then Laura's door was heard to open and close ; there was the rush of sweeping garments past Agues' chamber, followed by a softer " swish'" as they went trailing down the stairs. Miss Pomeroy had gone to keep her tryst.

CHAPTER XVII. AN ESPOUSAL IX Tilt DARK. Laura Pomeroy had never looked more beautiful in her life than when she went down to trick Max Remington into making a proposal of marriage to her. She had a very dainty white lace dress, which she had worn only once, in a bridal scene, at some amateur theatricals before coming to America, and, though she did not like white as well as blight colours, she decided to waive her preference and wear it, because she felt sure that Mux knew that Agnes' costume was to be white, and then she hoped to be better able to carry out the deception she intended to practice upon him.

The robe was made with the silken cor-sage-lining cut very low and sleeveless, while the lace came up close about her throat and fell lose to her wrists, and thus the beautiful pattern of the material was plainly outlined upon her perfect neck and arms.

The skirt was full and flowing, over an under-dress of t<ilk, its only earniture being a broad sash of heavy watered ribbon. Her midnight hair was rolled back from her broad, low forehead, a fa Pompadour, and knotted at the back of her well-shaped head. She wore a pair of solitaire diamonds iu her ears, and one blazing stone at her throat—they were nor genuine, but so well counterfeited that, only an export, could detect the sham, and the effect was therefore just as tinewhile Max's pink roses lay quivering on her breast. She was indeed brilliantly, daw.lingly beautiful. llow fair a creature from her Master's hand if her soul were only the counterpart of her person ! She sped down the wide staircase, meeting no one on her way, glided through the long drawing - and out of the lowFrench widow, at its farther end, upon the balcony. She drew the draperies together as she passed out, so that she might be concealed from the view of anyone coining into the drawing-room, and then she sank, excited and panting, upon a chair, her anxious heart beating audibly, for she felt that she was staking her all upon this one daring act. She had thrown a light zephyr hood over her head, more to conceal her dark hair than for protection against the keen October air ; she had left nothing undone to csiTy out the deception, having even sprinkled herself with a few drops of heliotrope—the perfume which Agnes invariably used. With bated breath and gleaming eyes she sat there, listening for the first fall of the footsteps of the man whom she loved with all the strength of her impassioned nature. The elegant marble clock on the drawingroom mantle was just on the stroke of eight when Max Remington, in full evening dress, and looking just what he was—a handsome, noble gentleman — stepped lightly over the threshold, passed swiftly down the apartment, swept aside the draperies that hung over the window leading out upon the balcony, and, with a heartthrob of joy, saw a still, white figure sitting there, leaning against the low railing.

"VVith a quick, eager movement, Max bent down and gathered that white-robed form within his arms, drawing the half-concealed head upon his breast, and touched the perfumed hair with his tremulous lips.

" My own darling ; you are mine ! for, by the act of coining hero, you have given yourself to me !" he breathed, with a tenderness that thrilled Luura through and through, even though she knew that those soft words were not intended for her, and she yielded herself unresistingly to the ecstacy of the moment, resting upon his bosom, her heart beating in unison with his, her pulses leaping to the rhythm of his voice.

Max did not dream what a terrible mistake he was making, nor of what a crafty plot he was the victim.

, The two girls were about the same in size and stature ; he knew that Agnes intended to wear white that evening, and Laura some rich, warm colour ; the roses he had sent to Agnes were on her breast, while the delicate perfume of heliotrope completed the deception.

" I love you—l love you," he went on, winding his arms more closely about the supple form; "how I have longed to tell you so for days, but could not; ever since the first hour of our meeting I have known that you were the one woman in the world whom I could take into the sanctuary of my heart and make my wife ! I wish I might look into your face and read my fate in these dear eyes," touching them lightly with his lips, "but the darkness will not let me even trace the outline of your features." How Laura blessed the darkness. " But, tell me, dear, that you return my affection ; I know you must or you would never rest so content within my arms; still I want to hear the blessed assurance from your lips." Laura laid her burning check against his, and, imitating Agnes' voice and manner as nearly as she could, whispered : " Max, I do love yon with my whole soul! How could I help it ?" " My heart's delight," he murmured, "I am afraid I do not deserve this happiness. And will you be my wife ? Give mo your promise, dearest, that I may soon call you by that most sacred of names." "If you think mo worthy, Max," were the low-breathed words that fell upon hie waiting ears. " Worthy ! My only fear is that I am not worthy of you," ho returned, and his tones trembled with tlio intensity of his emotion, "but my whole life shall be devoted to the endeavour of making you happy."

Just then the door-bell rang a sharp summons, and they knew that the guests were beginning to arrive, while, at the same moment, Mrs. Remington looked in at the lower door of the drawing-room, and called :

"Max ! Oh," she added, "he is not here. I thought I heard Jiim come down." " I must go, darling ; my mother wants me," he said softly in Laura's ear, as he gently released her; bub in bo doing the roses on her breast became unfastened and dropped over the balcony railing to the ground.

"Oh, my flowers!" Laura murmured, peering down into the darkness, after them, and drawing her soft hood more closely about her face, for the east was beginning to brighten with the rising moon, and she was not ready yet to have Max discover his mistake.

"Have you lost them, dear?" ho asked. " Never mind; I can get them for you. But first give me the seal to our betrothal; then I must go."

He took her face tenderly between his two hands, and, bending, pressed his lips to here in a fond and reverent caress. Then he vaulted lightly over the low railing of the balcony to search for her flowers. Ho could see nothing, but he felt all about on the ground for them, and finally found them directly beneath his feet. " I believe I have crushed them," he said, regretfully. "I fear, dear, that you cannot wear my colours, after all, to-night. Yes, they are spoiled, and you will have to substitute something in their place." " Give them to me," Laura whispered, "I shall keep them always." " Did you care so much for them Max asked, a note of even deeper regret in his tone. " But wait! losing them nearly made me forgot something far more important. Reach down your left hand, love." Laura's heart gave a great bound of delight at this command. He had gone much farther than she had dared to hope if he had already purchased the betrothal-ring. But she obediently held out her hand, and he slipped a ring upon her third finger. " You see, I was very sure I should win you," he said, with a light laugh ; then he j added, in a tone of surprise, " But it goes on a little hard, and I feared it was so large that you would need a guard. "I guessed better than I thought. Ho touchod his lips to the gleaming hand ere he released it, then said : " Now good-bye for a little while. I will go around and enter by the door ; but later, when our guests are gone, I shall claim you again. I must take you to my mother as her future daughter." He turned and left her; and Laura, flushed with triumph, her heart beating with such wild, exultant throbs as to make her almost faint, glided in through the window, and sped up to her own room before Max entered by the hall door. She tossed her ruined flow«3rs carelessly upon her dressing-table, though a slight shiver ran over her as it suddenly occurred that their fate might be ominous of her own when Max should discover how he had been dttped, though she meant to make a desperate fight to hold him to his troth.

She was glad, on the whole, that she would not be obliged to wear the flower?, for now she could avoid tho denouement until after the reception, though Max might wonder at Agnes' sudden change of manner when they should meet. She lifted her hand and looked at the ring upon her finger, and a low cry of delight escaped her, for there gleamed upon it a magnificent stone of purest water—a great, blazing solitaire, the first diamond she had ever worn. She kissed it passionately. "Oh, if 1 may but keep it!" she murmured, then, with a resolute flash of her dark eyes, " 1 will keep it—l will hold him to his troth." She removed it and examined its inner surface. There was 110 mark upon it—Max had had no time for that—and a smiel of triumph lighted her face. She went to her dressing-case, straightened out her slightly rumpled clothing, and smoothed her hair, laughing a little as she remembered the fond embrace of her unsuspecting lover. Then she fastened a single blood-red japonica, with its dark, glossy leaves, where her roses had been, after which she drew 011 her gloves, and, taking her fan, descended to the drawing-room, where she took her place beside Mrs. Remington, who was stationed at its upper end to receive her guests. Max was standing beside her, and Laura shot one quick, keen glance at him, crimsoning to her brow as her eyes met his, at which the young man wondered, for he knew that Miss Pomeroy was not in the habit of blushing. " Why, Laura," exclaimed Mrs. Remington, as her eye fell upon her whito robod figure, " how does it happen that you are in white? Has any accident occurred to the other costume ?" No, I have simply changed ray mind," the young lady replied, with n smile and a shy dropping of her heavily fringed lids. She meant to act her role of the newly betrothed maiden as perfectly as possible. " Well, 1 must confess I think it a change for the better," Mrs. Remington remarked, while she told herself that she had never seen the girl look so well before. Max thought so, too, and that the tender, I softened expression on her handsome face was far more attractive than the proud smile that usually wreathed her lips. " Where is Agnes?" Mrs. Remington inquired, after a moment. "In her room, I suppose," Laura returned. "I do not believe she can be quite ready to come down, for I saw her about an hour ago, and she had just awakened from a nap." " I am sorry I did not go to her and ask if I could help her about dressing," said Mrs. Remington, regretfully. " She can call upon Annio if she needs assistance," Laura suggested, "or I will inn up myself," she added, considerately. Max smiled quietly, ie imagined that he could explain Agnes' tardiness ; she was trying to calm her throbbing pulses and school herself to composure, before coming down to meet him in the presence of others.

" No, that will not be necessary ; she will doubtless soon be here," Mrs. Remington paid, in reply to Laura's offer. "The guests are beginning to come down, and I want you here with me," and even as she epoke a number of people entered the room.

Agnes, up in her own chamber, was indeed trying to "calm her throbbing pulses," and "school herself to composure," to a semblance at least of indifference, that she might thus conceal the wretchedness of her heart.

She did not mean to go down until a good many of the guests had arrived ; she thought she could slip in among them without being conspicuous, and it would not be so difficult to meet Max in a crowd. She had fully determined upon her role. Luckily for her, she thought, she had not committed herself in any way to him ; she had betrayed by no word that she loved him, and she now resolved to meet him upon the old friendly footing, with perhaps a trifle of reserve in her manner, while the absence of his flowers would tell him that she had decided nob to wear his "colours."

His colours! it seemed that he had a variety, she thought, with curling lips. She had heard the bell ring many times, and was upon the point of going down, when a servant put her head inside the door, saying that Mrs. Remington had sent to ask if anything had occurred to delay her appearance in the parlour. " IS'o, Jennie, I am all ready now, thank you," Agnes replied, calling a smile to her lips, and checking a sigh over tho ordeal awaiting her, and then she went reluctantly down the stairs.

j It was really Max who had sent the I servant with that message. He had begun to bo troubled and impatient over her prolonged absence, and feared she might have been taken suddenly ill. Agnes saw Mrs. Remington, Laura, and Max, surrounded by a gay company, as she quietly entered the room and took her stand near her hostess, but as far from the two supposed lovers as possible. It caused her a spasm of keen pain to see them side by side, and she noticed, too. how unusually lovely Laura looked, but of course it was natural, she thought, for them to be together, for doubtless they were already betrothed, since she had heard her rival go down to meet him at the appointed hour. "My dear, how very late you are chided Mrs. Remington, the moment she could get an opportunity to address her ; "you have missed being introduced to a number of nice people." Max, who had been watching for her, saw her the moment she entered, and his face lighted, while his eyes rested with exceeding tenderness upon her; she wan so unspeakably lovely, he thought. But she never once looked at him, though she was conscious of every movement that he made. •

"My modest darling," he said to himself, as he noticed it; "she dare not meet my glance for fear she will betray herself."

j "I am sorry if I have annoyed you by being so late," Agnes said, gently, in reply to Mrs. Remington, " but I fell asleep and did not wake until nearly seven o'clock." " Poor child ! 1 wr.a afraid you were getting too tired ; but your nap must have done you good, for you look as fresh as can be ; your costume too is charming, only you should have had some nice flowers. 1 am vexed with myself for nob sending you some," her friend replied, regretfully, bub regarding her with undisguised pleasure. Agnes knew that Max had been listening to- every word of this, aud she wondered

what ho thought because she had not worn his offering, or what he would say if he knew it was at that moment lying among the ashes in her grate. She thanked Mrs. Remington, but quietly remarked that she had not cared to wear

any flowers that evening. Again Max smiled, believing that he knew why she had not " cared that not being able to wear his roses, she would wear no others. He thought her rope of similax lovely, however, and, to his fond, partial eyes, as to many others, she was the fairest woman in the room. At that moment another group of j«eople entered, while among them, and greatly to her relief and comfort, Agnes espiod Mr. Archibald. [To be continued.]