Lenten Circle, and the most romantic creature that ever took
up the cause of Progress with a large P. It would not be fair to call
her strong-minded, because the adjective seems to imply some kind of a
limitation in her strength. She was even stronger in her impulses than
in her mind; original in every direction; in fact, originality was a
kind of convention with her. It was wonderful how many things she
accomplished; but then she never lost any time; she was precise,
punctual, inevitable in her sweet, feminine, self-possessed way; and
her varied and surprising programme went through on schedule time,
while she cherished in her heart the dream of a romance in the style of
"The Prisoner of Zenda."

Naturally, such a many-sided young woman would be difficult to please;
and a number of eligible young men had acquired personal knowledge of
the fact. But the difficulty seemed to attract Chichester. He went at
it in his bold, decided manner, with his chin forward; and he
conquered. After the February campaign no one was surprised to hear, in
March, that the engagement of Miss Ethel Asham to Mr. Bolton Chichester
was announced, and that the wedding would occur in June.

The place was not specified. Conjectures were hazarded that it might be
Dunfermline Abbey, the Castle of Chillon, Bridal Veil Falls in the
Yosemite, the Natural Bridge in Virginia, or St. George's, Hanover
Square. Little Pop Wilson, the well-known dialect novelist of the
southeastern part of northern Kentucky, suggested that there was
something to be said in favor of the Mammoth Cave--"always cool, you
know. Artificial lights, pulpit rock, stalactites--all that sort of
thing!" Even this was felt to be within the bounds of possibility. The
one thing that was not open to doubt was that the wedding would
certainly be celebrated in an original way and a romantic place, at
precisely the appointed hour. If anyone had foretold that it would be
broken off, and that the reason given would be "another engagement" on
the part of Mr. Bolton Chichester, we should have laughed in the face
of such a ridiculous prophet and advised him to take something to cool
his brain.

Yet this is exactly what happened; and the secret of that other
engagement is the subject of this brief, simple, but I hope not unmoral
narrative.

Chichester had been with the Ashams at the residential farm-house in
West Smithfield during the first fortnight of April, and had devoted
the remainder of t