ven those not of his own communion often came to him for
such services as the present, with a feeling that he gave dignity and
reality to the ceremony. Observing the luminous kindliness of his
smile, one might well infer that he was reminded of the marriage at
Cana of Galileo, and that he desired to make this incident as bright a
spot as possible in two lives which would doubtless know more of
burden-bearing than of joy. Nor was he content with this attention
alone. Chancing to remember the carnations that had stood on the table
at dinner, he brought them with his own hands, wiping the long stems
with his handkerchief before presenting them to the bride.

When they were gone, his glance fell upon an envelope which the groom
had left unnoticed on the piano.

"Look at this," he said, drawing forth a two-dollar bill. "Why didn't
I see him do that in time? At least, I am grateful that he did n't
attempt to pay me at parting, while in the act of shaking hands." His
eyes twinkled deeply. "You have no idea what a shock it is to feel a
crisp bill crinkling in your palm at such a moment. But come,
gentlemen. Our post-prandial smoke has been too long postponed."

"Why not leave Mr. Leigh to smoke his cigarette with me?" Miss Wycliffe
suggested. "We have n't yet had a chance to become acquainted."

This proposition, which filled the young man with surprise and
exhilaration, seemed nothing unusual to the other two, and they went
off without remark, perhaps not unwilling to have an opportunity to
chat alone.

Miss Wycliffe took the chair in which Leigh had seen her at his
entering. She held no fancy work in her hands, but toyed gracefully
with the ivory cimeter which had separated the leaves of her novel. He
was reminded of the episode of the ring by observing that she wore no
jewelry except the string of gold beads, and wondered whether she had a
philosophical contempt for such adornment. If it were a matter of
taste, as indeed it must be, her instinct, he felt, was singularly
correct, for such adventitious aids could add nothing to her beauty.
They were rather the final dependence of wrinkled dowagers. As he
watched her through the smoke of his cigarette, chatting still of the
wedding, he was aware that she appeared conscious of the voices whose
intonations rose and fell beyond the study door. Presently the sound
was varied by a hearty laugh.

"I 've no doubt they have gone back to politics," she remarked. He