"Yes--make all right! Comfort yourself;" and away she flew. Her face, upon her re-entrance, boded well for Ida's hopes. "What did she say?" inquired the latter, anxiously. "They were unpacking their trunks. Anna was very cordial--so was Josephine--for her. 'We concluded yesterday, to come up,' said Anna. 'Pa made a point of it, and Ida's letter was so kind and polite, that we finally determined to accept.' "'And Mr. Thornton and M. Villet were so desirous to have some Richmond girls here;' said Josephine." "Aha!" interrupted Ellen. Emma continued. "Anna did not notice her remark. 'The maid tells me Ida is to be married;' she said, eagerly. 'What a trick she has played us!' 'The queerest part of the story is, that she is more surprised than any body else,' I answered--'They have not been engaged a week! You know the groom?'" "'O yes! he is a noble fellow! I am rejoiced she is to marry him at last.'" "And what did Josephine say to this?" asked the inquisitive Ellen. "You need not pretend you have told us all." "Oh! nothing of consequence. She spoke very carelessly,--of his 'being nothing extra,' and 'she is welcome to him,' with no symptoms of unusual malice." "Maybe she does not care now, having transferred her attentions to Mr. Thornton. That harp will hang upon the willow, too, or my name is not Ellen Morris!" A note was handed Ida. "'Ossa on Pelion piled!' from your countenance," said the volatile bridesmaid. Ida read it aloud. "Villet is with Thornton. Will your plans undergo any alteration in consequence? "M. L." "Josephine is the loose screw, Emma spoke of. I would gladly add M. Villet and Anna to my train--" "Do it, and let her fret!" exclaimed Ellen. "Oh, no!" said Emma, involuntarily. "I cannot!" said Ida. She wrote upon the reverse of the billet--"Unless you object, the original order will be preserved." There were no happier beings present that evening, than the acting host and hostess, and Carry and Arthur. "I had resigned myself to Ida's perpetual spinsterdom," said Carry to her schoolmates. "She rejected several good offers from no apparent cause; and I imagined she had a prejudice against matrimony." "She was very indifferent upon the subject;" said Anna. "She was a mystery to many. But those deathless friendships between ladies and gentlemen, are always suspicious, and I predicted how this one would end." "Charley is delighted;" said Carry. "Is that surprising?" asked Josephine, with a dash of irony. "Hush! Here they are!" said Anna. The clergyman stepped into the centre of the room. The fourth couple entered first.