o her in parting:

"To-morrow, I am coming to see your mother, and then I hope to put my
seal on this little hand that you have given to me."

At first, Bea did not know whether to tell the girls or not, but then,
of course they knew, for after they were alone, what unheard-of capers
they did go through with, such winks, and sighs, and groans, and tragic
acting. So Bea sat over in the shadow where they couldn't see her face,
and said with a laugh:

"Stop your nonsense, if you want me to tell you about it."

"Tell!" echoed Kat. "As if we didn't know, and hadn't seen for months.
I've been nearly dead to tease, 'cause you're such a good subject, but
then mama said we shouldn't. Engaged! Oh, here's a go!"

"What did you both say?" asked Kittie, in romantic interest, and feeling
as though a great hole had been made in the family, with Bea set apart
from them in some way.

"Not much," answered Bea, with a little smile to think how quickly it
had all been done. "I hear voices at the gate; it's mama and Mr. Dane; I
guess I'll go down and meet her;" so off she went, leaving the twins to
laugh and mourn over the event.

Dr. Barnett came the next day, and he and Mrs. Dering talked in the
sitting-room together for a long time. Then Bea was sent for, and after
a while, when she came out with a quiet, almost sad happiness in her
face, she wore a rim of gold on her left hand, and for a long time she
sat alone in her room, thinking much, shedding a few tears, and saying a
little prayer, as though she felt that she stood on the threshold of
something that would require help, and that was hard for her to
realize.

After this, the summer days came and went, with little to disturb the
quiet life at the Dering's. The heat was so intense that amusements of
all kinds were laid aside, just as little work done as possible, and the
greater portion of the long days spent out on the old roof, where it was
constantly shady. So nothing further happened until the time came for
Ralph to return to home and studies. The prospect of such an event drove
despair into the hearts of the girls and made them extensively
rebellious. Even Kat mourned and felt a great deal more than she showed,
for with all pretensions to dislike, would it have been possible to have
had Ralph Tremayne there for six months, and not like him?

"I'll come back," he would say over and over again, as though in some
way, he gained comfort himself from the assertion. "In two y