“Oh,” replied she from the first landing, “as merry as a lark. It’s the bright spring weather, I suppose.”
“Well, that’s right; be happy while the sun shines, my child. The clouds will come soon enough.”
No sooner had the girls entered Alice’s room than her face became serious. “Sit down in that chair,” said she, in her quick, business-like manner. “And now,” added she, drawing a seat close beside Mary, and taking her hand, “now tell me,—what is all this?”
“I am happy, that’s all.”
“Happy?”
“Yes, it is all over—and I am free—and so-o-o-o ha-ha-ha-happy!” And throwing herself on Alice’s neck, she sobbed convulsively.
Alice stroked her friend’s hair in silence, waiting till she should recover from this paroxysm of bliss. At last Mary began to speak.
“It is all over,” she sobbed. “It was more than my strength could bear. After that sermon—” and she shivered.
“How all over?”
“I have broken off the engagement.”