Mr. Herrick determined to lose no further time in looking for Mildred, but he wished, first of all, to settle Elizabeth comfortably at school in regard to her drawing-lessons, which seemed to be so near her heart. That very morning, therefore, he went with her to Mrs. Arnold's, and asked to see the teacher of drawing and painting. Mrs. Arnold left the room to send her to the parlor, and the father and daughter were left alone together.
Presently there was a faint sound on the stairs, a rustle in the hall. The door was opened and Mrs. Brown came in. Mr. Herrick, attracted by the slight sound of her entrance, turned, and their eyes met. For a moment he was speechless, and there was a silence in the room.
"Mildred!" he said, starting forward, "have I found you here?"
"Edward, at last you have come!"
The three returned to Fourth Street together, and Mr. Herrick and his sister waited in the parlor while Elizabeth went to her aunts. She found them in the library.
"Aunt Caroline," said she, standing in front of her, "whom do you love best in the world?"
Her aunt looked at her for a moment without speaking. Then she said, "You, Elizabeth, I think."
"No, there is some one else. Some one you used to love and who loved you, and she is here now, in this very house. Come, Aunt Caroline and Aunt Rebecca, come down and see her."
And she took the hand of each.
And so it was Elizabeth who in the end brought them together. It was she who unlocked the door.