Madam Winthrop sat severely silent, with her delicate, cameo features held high. Her keen blue eyes never wavered, nor did her firm, thin lips quiver. Apparently, she had not one misgiving, and her only regret seemed to be that the rest of the family had taken leave of their senses. She looked straight in front of her, ignoring the sad gray head of her husband, and the yellow curls of the strong young son with whom she was offended. They would all see their mistake soon enough, and meantime she was giving them a bit of a lesson not to doubt the idol of her heart. To do her justice, she firmly believed she was right, and was amazed that her husband had taken the attitude he had. Of course Harrington would not do such a dreadful thing. Such things did not happen in real life. It was out of the question. She dismissed the subject with that, and fell to going over her own arrangements and the wardrobe of the family, with satisfaction. The sound of the horses’ hoofs on the old corduroy road, and the husky crickets by the wayside, beat a funeral dirge for the heart of the Father in the front seat. His countenance was heavy, and now and again he brought forth an audible sigh. The lugubrious attitude of her family annoyed Madam Winthrop. She turned to her sister-in-law sharply. "For pity’s sake, Martha, do stop snivelling! One would think you were going to a funeral instead of to a wedding. I must say I don’t think you honor your nephew very much, showing such distrust in him. Do wipe your eyes and sit up. If you go on this way, you won’t be able to come to the ceremony to-morrow morning, and you know how that will annoy Harrington. I must say, Mr. Winthrop, you are acting in a very strange manner, for the father of such a son." She always called him Mr. Winthrop when he had offended her. At other times it was "Father." Her husband turned in the seat and faced her solemnly. "Janet," he said sadly, "it’s no use for you to try to blind yourself to the truth. You’ll only have it harder to bear in the end. You might as well understand the awful truth that our boy Harrington has committed a great sin, and we ought to be thankful that it was discovered before any more harm was done. You don’t seem to see what a task we’ve got before us to tell that father and his innocent young daughter that the man in whom they trusted, our son, has played them false."