Meantime, Chester and his Lucilla were similarly engaged. Chester was very proud and fond of his bride and anxious to show her to neighbours and friends in her wedding dress; so expressed his satisfaction when he saw it laid out in readiness for the occasion.
"I am glad it pleases you," said Lucilla, "and I own to liking it right well myself. Eva is going to wear hers, too. So it will seem something like a repetition of our wedding day."
"Which makes it very suitable for your father's house. It was a disappointment to him, I know, not to have his daughter and son married in his own house."
"Yes, I suppose so; but dear father is so unselfish that he preferred to let us have our own way, especially on Eva's account."
"I know it, and mean to try to copy his example in that—seeking to please others rather than myself."
"As I do; I should like to resemble him in character and conduct as much as some persons tell me I do in features and expression."
"Yes; you are very like him in both," Chester said, with an affectionate and admiring look and smile; "in character and conduct also, if your admiring husband be any judge."
The Sunnyside couples were the first of the guests to reach Woodburn—though, in fact, they hardly considered themselves guests, or were deemed such by the family there; it was but going home to their father's house, where they had an hour of keen enjoyment before other relatives and guests began to arrive.
Everything went smoothly; the company was made up of congenial spirits, the entertainment was fine and evidently enjoyed, and when they bade good-night and scattered to their homes it was with the expectation of meeting again the next evening at Fairview. The Dinsmores of the Oaks had planned to give the second entertainment, but Mr. and Mrs. Leland claimed it as their right, because of their near relationship to Evelyn, and the fact that Fairview had been her home for so many years.
They were now nearing the end of the week; this was Thursday, the Fairview party would be held on Friday evening and Saturday all preferred to spend quietly in their own homes or with the nearest and dearest. And that was the plan carried out. The Fairview party passed off as successfully as had the Woodburn one, and Saturday and Sunday brought a rest from festivities which was welcome to all.