"My darling, she has not seen it. She and mother started before my man got there. He is probably bringing it back here now. As good luck would have it, she has fallen in love with a certain Charles Van Dorn. He's rather a poor stick, too, I think."
"She must be a strange girl, Dick, to fall in love with anybody else when you were around."
"Well, I don't know. At any rate, she did fall in love, and she came here of her own motion to break the engagement."
"I wonder how she will feel when she gets the letter?"
"Well, dearest, I thought, under the circumstances, I wouldn't give it to her."
"Not give it to her?" cried the girl, with sudden promptness and decision; "indeed you will give her that letter, sir! She shall know you loved me before she released you, and that you were going to break the engagement yourself. I won't have her think for a moment that I just got you because she threw you over. Not give her the letter, indeed!"
"Well, Emily," said Revere, deprecatingly, greatly surprised at this outburst; "you see I thought I would save her the—er—humiliation, you know, of being rejected by a man."
"And you will inflict on me, Richard Revere, the humiliation of letting her think that I only have you because she didn't want you! That I——" furiously.
"Now, my dear; you know perfectly well that's different. If she has half an eye, as soon as she sees us together, she will know that I love you desperately as I never loved her. She is a bright girl."
"Bright! I don't think so!" contemptuously. "She is very stupid to give you up; but I'm glad she is——"