NOVELS BY CHRISTIAN REID. =Valerie Aylmer.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cents; cloth, $1.25. =Morton House.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cents; cloth, $1.25. =Mabel Lee.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cents; cloth, $1.25. =Ebb-Tide.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cents; cloth, $1.25. =Nina’s Atonement, etc.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cts.; cloth, $1.25. =A Daughter of Bohemia.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cts.; cloth, $1.25. =Bonny Kate.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cents; cloth, $1.25. =After Many Days.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cents; cloth, $1.25. =The Land of the Sky.= 8vo. Paper, 75 cts.; cloth, $1.25. =Hearts and Hands.= 8vo. Paper, 50 cents. =A Gentle Belle.= 8vo. Paper, 50 cents. =A Question of Honor.= 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. =Heart of Steel.= 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. =Roslyn’s Fortune.= 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. =A Summer Idyl.= 18mo. Paper, 30 cents; cloth, 60 cents. =Miss Churchill.= 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00. =A Comedy of Elopement.= 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00. =The Land of the Sun.= (_In preparation._) New York: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, Publishers. A COMEDY OF ELOPEMENT BY CHRISTIAN REID AUTHOR OF MISS CHURCHILL, BONNY KATE, A SUMMER IDYL, MORTON HOUSE, VALERIE AYLMER, NINA’S ATONEMENT, HEART OF STEEL, ETC. [Illustration] NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1893 COPYRIGHT, 1892, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED AT THE APPLETON PRESS, U. S. A. A COMEDY OF ELOPEMENT. PART I. I. The short December day was drawing to its close; but, though the month was December, the temperature was not that which is usually associated with the season. Instead of gray skies, leaden waters, and brown or snowy earth, there was a sky of glowing beauty, a glittering sea, and a land covered with the evergreen foliage of the South--for it was December in Florida. At noon the sun had shone with uncomfortable power on the broad plaza and old Spanish houses of St. Augustine; but now that his last rays were gilding the ancient fort and the Moorish belfry of the cathedral, the air was full of that delicious softness--a caressing warmth without heat--which in such latitudes makes the mere fact of existence a delight. On the gray sea wall there were several loiterers; but, as the sun finally sank, and the purple veil of twilight fell over land and sea, most of these departed, leaving only two girls, who still paced the narrow promenade, talking earnestly.