his side, "but the Fate
is charming."

Fortunately there was no one upon the road to notice the reinless
plight in which these two young people found themselves, and they were
quite as well satisfied as if they had been doing their own driving.
After a little period of thought, Annie turned an earnest face to
Lawrence, and she said: "Do you know that I never believed that you
were really in love with Roberta March."

Lawrence squeezed her hand, but did not reply. He knew very well that
he had loved Roberta March, and he was not going to lie about it.

"I thought so," she continued, "because I did not believe that any
one, who was truly in love, would want to send other people about, to
propose for him, as you did."

"That is not exactly the state of the case," he said, "but we must not
talk of those things now. That is all passed and gone."

"But if there ever was any love," she persisted, "are you sure that it
is all gone?"

"Gone," he answered, earnestly, "as utterly and completely as the days
of last summer."

And now the sorrel, of his own accord, stopped at Mrs Keswick's outer
gate; and Lawrence, getting down, took up the reins, opened the gate,
and drove to the house in quite a proper way.

When Mr Croft helped Annie to descend from the spring-wagon, he did
not squeeze her hand, nor exchange with her any tender glances, for
old Mrs Keswick was standing at the top of the steps. "Have you seen
Letty?" she asked.

"Letty?" said Miss Annie. "Oh, yes," she added, as if she suddenly
remembered that such a person existed, "Letty was at church, and she
was very active."

"Well," said the old lady, "she must have taken more interest in the
exercises than you did, for it is long past the time when I told her
she must be home."

"I do not believe, madam," said Lawrence, "that any one could have
taken more interest in the exercises of this morning, than we have."

At this, Annie could not help giving him a little look which would
have provoked reflection in the mind of the old lady, had she not been
very earnestly engaged in gazing out into the road, in the hope of
seeing Letty.

When Lawrence had gone into the office, and had closed the door behind
him, he stood in a meditative mood before the empty fireplace. He was
making inquiries of himself in regard to what he had just done. He
was not accusing himself, nor indulging in regrets; he was simply
investigating the matter. Here he stood, a man accepted by t