ral ceremony a religious service was to take place, and,
as was only fitting, this was to be conducted by the eminent Abbe
Samuel. Before such distinguished guests it would hardly be in keeping
to have a man such as pastor Mohak, although it was true that he
slaved all through the year among the people.

The guests came from the castle, where they had arrived the previous
day. They drove into the town in splendid coaches. That of Prince
Theobald came first, with his armorial bearings emblazoned on the
panels. Behind two footmen with dazzling liveries of scarlet and gold.
On the box the coachman with a powdered wig and three-cornered hat.
The coach drew up at the church door, the footmen jumped down and
opened the carriage door. There alighted first an old gentleman with
white hair, a clean-shaven, soft, friendly face, and a very
distinguished air. He gave his hand to a splendidly dressed lady in a
velvet and lace costume, who descended from the equipage with graceful
nonchalance. The crowd saw her violet velvet boots and embroidered
silk stockings.

"What a great lady!" cried the boors to one another. "She must be a
princess, for all the gentlemen at the church door received her hat in
hand."

Only one man in a rough workman's coat called out: "Evila!"

It was Peter Saffran who had recognized her.

The lady heard the exclamation, and turned a laughing face to the
crowd outside.

"No," she said; "it is _Eveline_."

She bowed her head sweetly as she crossed the threshold of the church.

Eveline's vanity had brought her to Bondathal; she wanted to show her
silk stockings to her former companions, who had seen her in wooden
shoes with no stockings, except on occasions. It was the vanity of the
peasant girl--not pride, take notice, but mere vanity. She did not
look down upon her friends, as some upstarts do; she wanted to do good
to every one of them. She was ready to give them money, to earn their
grateful thanks, particularly to those who had been kind to her in the
old days; to those especially she wished to prove that, although she
had risen to a high position, she had never forgotten how much she
owed to them. She would now, in her turn, do them good. Eveline had
looked forward to seeing her former bridegroom. Most probably he had
long since consoled himself for her loss, and had married another. A
present of money would make _him_ happy. She had also counted on
meeting Ivan. She had the most grateful remembra