"Five days," answered the young man, as solemnly as if he had said five years.
"That is but a short time. I do not think you have cause to be anxious yet awhile," said Emma, with a smile.
"But you haven't heard from her yourself even, have you, Miss Emma?" he anxiously inquired.
"Certainly not, else I should have told you at once," replied Miss Cavendish.
"For mercy's sake, you never came all the way from Wendover to Charlottesville to ask that question, did you, Mr. Kyte?" inquired irrepressible Electra, elevating her eye-brows.
The lover, who had so unconsciously betrayed himself, blushed violently and stammered forth:
"No—not entirely. The fact is, for more than a year past I have been watching and waiting for an opportunity to change my business from Wendover to Charlottesville. And I came up partly about that also. But as a—a friend of Mrs. Grey, I do feel anxious about her mysterious absence and silence."
"I assure you, Mr. Kyte, that Mrs. Grey is quite capable of taking excellent care of herself," added plain-spoken Laura Lytton.
"Come, Mr. Kyte, cheer up! We are going on a pilgrimage to Monticello to-morrow and you must join our party," said Miss Cavendish, kindly.
But Mr. Kyte excused himself, saying that he could not leave his business long, and must start for Wendover the next morning.