Avis knew all the best people in Salem, it was not so large, after all. And they came to the beautiful house and made merry, played "guessing words"--what we call charades, quite a new thing then--and it made no end of merriment. Of course, Cynthia was in them, was arch and piquant, and delighted the audience. Then they had supper and more dancing. One of the Turner boys, Archibald, hovered about Cynthia like a shadow. There was Ben Upham, but Edward Saltonstall warded them off to her satisfaction. But Bella Turner was shortly to be married, and Archie would have her for that evening surely. She and Mr. Saltonstall were very good friends. He was a little older than the others, and grown wary by experience. But it was queer that half a dozen girls were pulling straws for him and here was one who did not care, would not raise a finger, but, oh, how sweet her smiles were. "If you are a bridesmaid the third time, you will never be a bride," said some of the wiseacres. Cynthia tossed her proud, dainty head and laughed over it to Cousin Chilian. He looked a little grave. "Would you mind if I were an old maid? I wouldn't really be _old_ in a long while, you know. And you will always want some one. If anything should happen to Cousin Eunice, how lonely you would be." "Yes, if you went away." "I don't care for any of them very much. I like Mr. Saltonstall the best. He isn't quite so young, so--so sort of impetuous. And the boys get jealous." Then it was likely to be Mr. Saltonstall, after all! Was he going to be narrow and mean enough to keep her out of what was best in a woman's life? But he looked down the dreary years without her. He could not attach himself to the world of business as Cousin Giles did. Some of these young fellows might come into a sort of sonship with him--there was Anthony Drayton. Why was it his soul protested against them? He did not understand the deep underlying dissent that made a cruel discordance in his desire for her happiness. Mr. Saltonstall walked home from church with her and Miss Winn. And he came in one evening to ask some advice. He had cudgelled his brain for days to find just the right subject. That ended, they had a talk about chess--that was becoming quite an interest in some circles. There were several moves that puzzled him. "Come in some evening and talk them over," said Mr. Leverett. Edward Saltonstall wondered at the favor of the gods and accepted. Not as if he was in any vulgar hurry, but he dropped in, politely social, and asked if he should disturb them. Chilian had been reading Southey's "Thalaba." "Oh, no. We often read in the evening," said Cynthia. She was netting a bead bag, an industry all the rage then among the women. They really were prettier than the samplers. But she rose and brought the box of chessmen, while he rolled the table from its corner. "Will I disturb you if I stay?" she asked.