pulled down the blinds. Then she came back, and,
standing behind her mother's chair, placed a hand upon her shoulder.

"It--it will be lonely for you when I've gone, mother," she said,
smoothing the old lady's lace collar.

"Gone?" repeated Mrs. Willett. "Gone? Why, has that woman consented to
go at last?"

Miss Willett shrank back. "No," she said, trembling, "but--"

"You can't marry till she does," said Mrs. Willett, gripping the arms
of her chair. "Not with my consent, at any rate. Remember that. I'm not
going to give way; she must."

Miss Willett said "Yes, mother," in a dutiful voice, and then, avoiding
her gaze, took a few biscuits from the sideboard.

"There's a difference between strength of mind and obstinacy," continued
Mrs. Willett. "It's obstinacy with her--sheer obstinacy; and I am not
going to bow down to it--there's no reason why I should."

Miss Willett said "No, mother."

"If other people like to bow down to her," said Mrs. Willett, smoothing
her dress over her knees, "that's their look-out. But she won't get me
doing it."

She went up to bed and lay awake half the night, and, rising late next
morning in consequence, took advantage of her daughter's absence to peer
under the bed. The parcels had disappeared. She went downstairs, with
her faded but alert old eyes watching Cecilia's every movement.

"When does Mr. Truefitt begin his holidays?" she inquired, at last.

Miss Willett, who had been glancing restlessly at the clock, started
violently.

"To--to--to-day," she gasped.

Mrs. Willett said "Oh!"

"I--I was going out with him at eleven--for a little walk," said her
daughter, nervously. "Just a stroll."

Mrs. Willett nodded. "Do you good," she said, slowly. "What are you
going to wear?"

Her daughter, still trembling, looked at her in surprise. "This," she
said, touching her plain brown dress.

Mrs. Willett's voice began to tremble. "It's--it's rather plain," she
said. "I like my daughter to be nicely dressed, especially when she is
going out with her future husband. Go upstairs and put on your light
green."

Miss Willett, paler than ever, gave a hasty and calculating glance at
the clock and disappeared.

"And your new hat," Mrs. Willett called after her.

She looked at the clock too, and then, almost as excited as her
daughter, began to move restlessly about the room. Her hands shook, and
going up to the glass over the mantel-piece she removed her spectacles
and dabbed indi