There was but one item of especial importance in the letter, and that was the announcement of the sudden return from Europe of Mrs. Trevennon’s nephew, Alan Decourcy, an individual who had long reigned in Margaret’s mind and memory as a veritable Prince Charming, who possessed to the letter every endowment of nature and advantage of fortune which the most exacting of maidens could have asked. Margaret had not seen him since he had come to man’s estate, but, as a boy, he had spent much of each year at a country home near Bassett, owned by his mother, and she had always looked upon him as the most fortunate and gifted of beings. He was an only son, and his sister, who was some years older than himself, was now married and living in Baltimore. To this sister Margaret had pledged herself for a visit before returning to the South. How pleasant it would be to meet Alan there! His mother was now dead, and after finishing his course at a Northern university he had gone abroad for a year’s travel, but it was only at the end of four years that he had now returned. She wondered if he would prove to be as handsome and charming as memory painted him! His occasional letters had been very delightful, and led her to believe that all the bright promises of his youth had been fulfilled. And now he had actually returned, and she was to see him! Mrs. Trevennon wrote that she had already sent him her daughter’s address in Washington, saying that he must run over from Baltimore and see her. She added that her nephew had said that he would probably linger a while in New York before joining his sister, and so his movements were rather indefinite. The feelings which this announcement of Alan Decourcy’s return awakened were contradictory. Margaret was naturally very anxious to see this charming cousin, but she did not want him to come to see her in this house; she hoped she might never have another visitor here. Alan Decourcy was sure to be all that was elegant and charming, but since one person who had come to this house to see her had been treated with such discourtesy she wished for no more visitors. Already she had begun to lay plans for the termination of her visit, and she now resolved to speak to Cousin Eugenia, on the subject of going to Baltimore, as soon as the opportunity should offer.