"Now for a sensation! What will be said and thought by the different members of this establishment when it is known that there is to be a wedding to-morrow? It passes my comprehension. I promised to be patient, but it was almost cruel of you, Doris, to place me in such a predicament. I suppose I must call the principal servants together and tell them that Lady Studleigh is to be married to-morrow, without form or ceremony of any kind. There will be what the papers call a startling surprise!" "We have plenty to do," said the countess; "there will be no time for rambles in the wood. Ulric, when you have made your announcement, will you go to the vicarage? You have arrangements to make there, and you must take Earle with you. I cannot spare Doris to him this morning." So the gentlemen went away. "It is a strange whim of Doris', this desire for secrecy," said the earl, as they rode along. "I must confess I do not understand it; do you?" "Not in the least," replied Earle, "she seemed very intent upon it. I think, Lord Linleigh," he added, with a laugh, "that I shall learn one thing as I grow older." "What will that be?" asked the earl. "Not to try to fathom the caprice of ladies, but to yield gracefully to it." "You are a wise man," said Lord Linleigh, with a look of sincere admiration; "that is the true secret of wedded content." While Lord Linleigh and Earle were busy at the vicarage, where it required some time and some persuasion to induce the rector to believe what they had to say, the ladies were wonderfully busy. The news spread, and as Lord Linleigh had foreseen, caused a great sensation. Lady Studleigh to be married to-morrow!--and such a marriage--no ceremony, no gayeties, nothing at all! Lady Linleigh had, however, considerably changed the state of affairs, by saying that the arrangements for the wedding had been hurried so as to permit of Lady Doris going abroad in August, and, before going, she intended making a handsome present to each member of the household. Their opinion was, in consequence, considerably changed. When the earl and his household met at dinner there were much laughter and amusement--much to tell; the rector's amazement, the astonishment of every one who heard the news. The earl was in high spirits, laughing and jesting all the more that he saw his wife's gentle face growing sad and sorrowful. "You will be gone this time to-morrow," she said. "I shall fancy I hear your voice and see your face all day, and for many long days." "Yes," said Doris, softly, "I shall be gone this time to-morrow." "But you will not be so very far away," said Mattie. "No further than London," said Earle. "I like crossing the Channel; do you, Doris?" "No, I am not a good sailor," she replied. "Ladies seldom are," said the earl. "Estelle, I have resolved Doris' last evening with us shall be the happiest she has spent at Linleigh. We will not have one sad word." CHAPTER LXXVIII. A MIDNIGHT VISITOR.