not turn
her head.

"That winter we first met Willis Starr. He was a newcomer, and nobody
knew much about him, but one or two of the best families took him up,
and his own fascinations did the rest. He became what you would call
the rage. He was considered very handsome, his manners were polished
and easy, and people said he was rich.

"I don't think, Amy, that I ever trusted Willis Starr. But like all
the rest, I was blinded by his charm. Mother was almost the only one
who did not worship at his shrine, and very often she dropped hints
about penniless adventurers that made Eliza very indignant.

"From the first he had paid Eliza marked attention and seemed utterly
bewitched by her. Well, his was an easy winning. Eliza loved him with
her whole impulsive, girlish heart and made no attempt to hide it.

"I shall never forget the night they were first engaged. It was
Eliza's birthday, and we were invited to a ball that evening. This
yellow gown is the very one she wore. I suppose that is why she put it
away here--the gown she wore on the happiest night of her life. I had
never seen her look more beautiful--her neck and arms were bare, and
she wore this string of pearls and carried a bouquet of her favourite
white roses.

"When we reached home after the dance, Eliza had her happy secret to
tell us. She was engaged to Willis Starr, and they were to be married
in early spring.

"Willis Starr certainly seemed to be an ideal lover, and Eliza was so
perfectly happy that she seemed to grow more beautiful and radiant
every day.

"Well, Amy, the wedding day was set. Eliza was to be married from the
Grange, as her own mother was dead, and I was to be bridesmaid. We
made her wedding dress together, she and I. Girls were not above
making their own gowns then, and not a stitch was set in Eliza's save
those put there by loving fingers and blessed by loving wishes. It was
I who draped the veil over her sunny curls--see how yellow and creased
it is now, but it was as white as snow that day.

"A week before the wedding, Willis Starr was spending the evening at
the Grange. We were all chattering gaily about the coming event, and
in speaking of the invited guests Eliza said something about the
other Eliza Laurance, the great heiress, looking archly at Willis over
her shoulder as she spoke. It was some merry badinage about the cousin
whose namesake she was but whom she so little resembled.

"We all laughed, but I shall never forget