"I had hoped to have the pleasure of telling you myself," said David.
"I have often wondered what she is like," answered Bethany, "and I am glad to have this opportunity of offering my congratulations. I wish that she lived here that I might make her acquaintance. I do not know when I have seen a face that has captivated me so."
"Thank you," replied David, flushing with pleasure. A tender smile lighted his eyes as he glanced at the miniature again before closing the case. "She will come to Hillhollow in the spring," he added proudly.
They heard Mr. Edmunds's voice in the hall. Bethany held out her hand.
"I shall not see you again until next week, I suppose," she said, "so let me wish you a very happy Christmas."
He kept her hand in his an instant as he repeated her greeting, then, looking earnestly down into the upturned face, added gently in Hebrew, the old benediction—"Peace be upon you."
It was quite dark when she stepped out into the streets. She thought of David and Esther all the way home.
At first she thought of them with a tender smile curving her lips, as she entered unselfishly into the happiness of the little romance she had discovered.
Then she thought of them with tears in her eyes and a chill in her heart, as some little waif might stand shivering on the outside of a window, looking in on a happy scene, whose warmth and comfort he could not share. The joy of her own betrothal, and the desolation that ended it, surged back over her so overwhelmingly that she was in no mood for merry-making when she reached home.