"You need not dread my being in awe of you," laughed Hilda. "You were somewhat younger than now when I first became acquainted with you. I suppose that accounts for my lack of deference. We have grown old together."
Mr. Courtney had suggested an early day for their marriage, and there was nothing to prevent except the item of a trousseau, a subject which Hilda, penniless, and having no claim upon a human being, did not consider open for discussion.
Mr. Courtney believed that to be the cause of her reluctance to agree to his suggestion for an early day, and had he not appreciated her fine nature so thoroughly, might have been tempted through the aid of Mrs. Courtney, to do away with that hindrance. As it was, he could only await Time's adjustment.
Hilda wrote to Mrs. Warfield and to Fred and waited for the second time in her life with keen anxiety for Mrs. Warfield's reply. Would she be wounded because Hilda remained indifferent to the united appeal of mother and son? Would she resent the reticence of Hilda in not giving them knowledge of her attachment to Mr. Courtney in the nearly two years she had been with them and thus misleading Fred?
Smothering the pain in her heart, Mrs. Warfield's letter was candid, cordial and affectionate. She wrote nothing that would mar the happiness of the girl whom she held blameless. She offered her sincere congratulations, and added to the measure of her kindness by enclosing a check for the purchase of a handsome outfit as a wedding present.
There was now nothing to prevent Hilda from acceding to Mr. Courtney's wish to appoint an early day for the marriage, which would be at the home of the Merrymans, Rev. Carl officiating, and the bridal tour followed by a reception at "My Lady's Manor" under the auspices of Mrs. Courtney and Mrs. Merryman.
As upon a former occasion, Mrs. Courtney offered her assistance in the matter of shopping, and the offer was accepted gladly by Hilda.
The evening before they were to drive to Baltimore, Mrs. Merryman and Hilda took a walk to the cottage, and upon reaching the gate saw Archie coming down the road from "My Lady's Manor," where he had been the past night and day.
"I am sure he is on his way to 'Fair Meadow,'" said Mrs. Merryman. "Ask him to wait and go with us; he can carry the things you wish to take."