iss March. "We had the lower
floor of the house entirely to ourselves, and I am sure that Mrs
Keswick would not have returned until you had waved a handkerchief, or
given some signal from the back of the house that it was all over."

Croft looked at her with a troubled expression. "Miss March," said he,
"do you not think I am in earnest? Do you not believe what I have said?"
"I have not the slightest doubt you are in earnest," she answered.
"The magnitude of the preparation proves it." "I am glad you said that,
for it gives me the opportunity for making an explanation," said
Lawrence. "Our meeting at this place may be a carefully contrived
stratagem, but it was not contrived by me. I am very well aware that Mr
Keswick also wishes to marry you--"

"Did you see that in the Richmond _Dispatch_ or in one of the New York
papers?" interrupted Miss March.

"That is a point," said Lawrence, overlooking the ridicule, "which we
need not discuss. I am perfectly aware that Mr Keswick is my rival, but
I wish you to understand that I am not voluntarily taking any undue
advantage of his absence. I believe him to be a very fair and generous
man, and I would wish to be as open and generous as he is. When I came,
I expected to find him here, and, standing on equal ground with him, I
intended to ask you to accept my love."

"Well, then," said Roberta, "would it not be more fair and generous for
you to go away now, and postpone this proposal until some time when you
would each have an equal chance?"

"No, it would not," said Lawrence, vehemently. "I have now an
opportunity of telling you that I love you ardently, passionately; and
nothing shall cause me to postpone it. Will you not consider what I
say? Will you make no answer to this declaration of most true and honest
love?"

"I am considering what you have said," she answered; "and I am very glad
to hear that you did not know of this cunning little trap that Mrs
Keswick has laid for me. It is all very plain to me, but I do not know
why she should have selected you as one of the actors in the plot. Have
you ever told her that you are a suitor for my hand?"

"Never!" exclaimed Lawrence. "She may have imagined it, for she heard I
was a frequent visitor to Midbranch. But let us set all that aside. I am
on fire with love for you. Will you tell me that you can return that
love, or that I must give up all hope? This is the most important
question of my whole life. I beg you, from the bo