"I never forbade you to speak of her, did I?" he returned, in a playful tone, smiling on her and stroking her hair with caressing hand.
"No, sir; but I would like to tell them that—that she is going to be my mamma soon; if I may—if you would like me to?"
"You may tell them; I do not object; but it was quite right to ask permission first," he answered; and with a joyful "Thank you, sir," she skipped away.
When Mrs. Keith rejoined him he had another story for her ear—a brighter, cheerier one than the last; the same that Elsie was gleefully rehearsing to her cousins up-stairs.
"Miss Rose was so nice, so good, so kind," she had been saying.
"Is she pretty too?" asked Annis.
"Yes, but not nearly so beautiful as my own mamma," Elsie said, drawing from the bosom of her dress a lovely miniature set in gold and precious stones.
Annis exclaimed at the extreme beauty of both the face and its setting, while Mildred gazed upon the former with eyes full of a mournful tenderness.
"It's almost prettier than your gold watch," Annis said, "though I thought that was as beautiful as anything could be. Your rings too."