ves him for all that, with the intensest fervor and
passion.'

"He repeated again, 'You are a woman and you ought to know.' And then
called his daughter to him.

"I cannot tell what passed between them, but the upshot of it was, that
the Colonel despatched an answer to the effect that the father's consent
would not be lacking, provided the daughter's could be obtained. I
learned this from Jacqueline herself who brought me the letter to post.

"'You see then, that your father understands,' said I.

"Her rich red lip curled mockingly, but she did not reply.

"Naturally Mr. Holt answered to this communication in person. Jacqueline
received him with a fitful coquetry that evidently puzzled him, for all
the distinguishing charm which it added to a beauty apt to be too
reserved and statue-like. She however took his ring which blazed on her
finger like a drop of ice on congealed snow. 'I am engaged,' she
murmured as she passed by my door, 'and to a Holt!' The words rang long
in my ears; why?

"She desired no congratulations; she permitted nothing to be said about
her engagement, among the neighbors. She had even taken off her ring
which I found lying loose in one of her bureau drawers. And no one dared
to remonstrate, not even her father, punctillious as he was in all
matters of social etiquette. The fact is, Jacqueline was not the same
girl she had been before she gave her promise to Mr. Holt. From the
moment he bade her good-bye, with the remark that he was going away to
get a golden cage for his bride, she began to reveal a change. The cold
reserve gave way to feverish expectancy. She trod these rooms as if
there were burning steels in the floors, she looked from the windows as
if they were prison bars; night and day she gazed from them yet she
never went out. The letters she received from him were barely read and
tossed aside; it was his coming for which she hungered. Her father
noticed her restless and eager gaze, and frequently sighed. I felt her
strange removed manner and secretly wept. 'If he does not amply return
this passion,' thought I, 'my darling will find her life a hell!'

"But he did return it; of that I felt sure. It was my only comfort.

"Suddenly one day the restlessness vanished. Her beauty burst like a
flame from smoke; she trod like a spirit that hears invisible airs. I
watched her with amazement till she said 'Mr. Holt comes to-night,' then
I thought all was explained and went smiling about my wo