d he did so, having hope yet
of that house on Madison Square; but Arthur guessed at it and
dismissed her from his mind just as he tried to dismiss every
unpleasant thought, waiting with a trusting heart for whatever the
future might bring.

CHAPTER XII.

VALENCIA.

Very extensive preparations were making at Prospect Hill for the
double wedding to occur on the 15th. After much debate and
consultation, Fanny had decided to take the doctor then; and thus she,
too, shared largely in the general interest and excitement which
pervaded everything.

Both brides elect seemed very happy, but in a very different way; for,
while Fanny was quiet and undemonstrative, Lucy seemed wild with joy,
and danced gayly about the house--now in the kitchen, where the cake
was making; now in the chamber where the plain sewing was done, and
then flitting to her own room in quest of Valencia, who was sent on
divers errands, the little lady thinking that, now the time was so
near, it would be proper for her to remain indoors and not show
herself in public quite as freely as she had been in the habit of
doing.

So she remained at home, while they missed her in the back streets and
bylanes, the Widow Hobbs, who was still an invalid, pining for a sight
of her bright face, and only half compensated for its absence by the
charities which Valencia brought; the smart waiting-maid putting on
innumerable airs and making Mrs. Hobbs feel keenly how greatly she
thought herself demeaned by coming to such a heathenish place as that.

The Hanoverians, too, missed her in the street, but for this they
made ample amends by discussing the doings at Prospect Hill and
commenting upon the bridal trousseau which was sent up from New York
the very week before Christmas, thus affording a most fruitful theme
for conversation for the women and girls engaged in trimming the
church.

There were dresses of every conceivable fabric, they said, but none
were quite so grand as the wedding-dress itself--the heavy white
silk which could "stand alone," and trailed "a full half-yard behind."

It was also whispered round that, not content with seeing the effect
of her bridal robes as they lay upon the bed, Miss Lucy Harcourt had
actually tried them on--wreath, veil and all--and stood before the
glass until Miss Fanny had laughed at her for being so vain and
foolish, and said she was a pretty specimen for a sober clergyman's
wife.

For all this gossip the villagers