"Violet!"
"Hush, aunt!" said Violet. "It has gone! I am wicked and silly. It has gone, that dreadful horror and dread. I am dreaming again and numbed. Do not let us talk any more about it. Sit still, dear auntie, and talk of something else."
Mrs. Mildmay resumed her seat, and looked at her darling with a troubled heart.
"My dear Violet, you must struggle against such feelings, especially to-night. Howard is coming, you know, and Mr. and Mrs. Dodson. We are all to talk over your wedding trip."
"To-night are they coming?" said Violet.
"Yes. Captain Murpoint has to take a journey to Penruddie"—Violet shuddered—"to-morrow, and may be away for all the time before the 24th. Think, my dear! You will be the wife of a great and good man. Perhaps—for they are all talking of it—you will be Lady Murpoint."
At that time a servant knocked at the door.
"A gentleman wishes to see Miss Violet, madam."
"It is very late," said Mrs. Mildmay. "What is his name?"
"He has given no name. He wishes to see her on business, I believe, madam."