"I'm glad to hear it, for I thought, from the way you rolled your eyes at him last night and this morning, that you had lost your heart to him already, and I thought it a pity to show your heart to a man so plainly," gibed her tormentor, viciously. "You were mistaken, Ela. I never thought of loving him, and I hope he did not think so," cried the proud child, fearfully. "There's no telling what he thought. Men are very, very vain, and believe that every girl who gives them a glance is in love with them. I suppose Love Ellsworth is like the rest; and, rich as he is, I have no doubt he is a terrible flirt. But there comes a carriage load of young people, and perhaps you and I may catch a beau, too, Dainty; for Olive seems to have captured Love," glancing toward her cousin, who was indeed holding the young man in unwilling chains, while she lamented that her cousin Dainty was the most arrant little coward in the world, and always going into hysterics over some trifle, so that she and Ela had been very sorry she was invited to Ellsworth, feeling sure that her vagaries would cause dear Aunt Judith no end of trouble. But in a minute he had to leave her side to welcome the newcomers--three young men and one girl--which paired the party into four couples; and after introductions all around, Dainty found that Love Ellsworth had fallen to her lot; whether by chance or his own design, she could not tell. They went down to the golf ground, and played for an hour; but Ellsworth found his fair companion very shy and _distrait_ all the while; and when at last they all sat down beneath the trees to rest, he asked, anxiously: "Are you offended with me, that you seem so cold and quiet?" The wistful blue eyes turned gravely on his face. "I thought you were offended with me, because of last night; you looked so angry while I was telling you of my scare," she answered, timidly. "Angry with you, child? How could any one have the heart?" he cried. "I was angry, I own, but it was because I believed that some of the servants had played a cruel joke on you. But I have ordered a strict investigation, and if the plot is discovered, the guilty parties shall certainly suffer." "Oh, if I could think it only a joke; but it seemed so terribly real!" she breathed, tremblingly; and he longed to catch her in his arms and kiss away her fears. But the proprieties forbid this soothing process; so he hastened to assure her that it could not possibly be real, only a trick of some malicious person, who would certainly be discovered and punished. "And now, Dainty," he said--"may I call you Dainty?" he added, tenderly; for she had looked up with a start. She faltered, "Yes," and he proceeded in a low voice thrilling with passion: