"I congratulate you with all my heart, Meg, and I am so glad that Abby married that Englishman and will live abroad. Raymond is just the one man in all the world that you should marry." "Thank you a thousand times, girls," Margaret said heartily when she had been duly kissed and hugged. "But you know really, that he is much better and nobler than I. It is so, and you need not try to contradict me. I thought at first that he was trying in this way to atone for his father's youthful faults, but--" "But you do not think so any more," Dolly said shrewdly, looking at her friend's changing face. "No, I do not," Margaret owned softly. Constance looked around on the other faces. "Now I wonder if any more of you are hiding weighty secrets. If so, confess!" "How about our hostess, herself?" retorted Beth quickly. Constance smiled serenely. "I have absolutely nothing to confess. I feel like a grandmother, with all this talk of engagements and marriage going on around me. I am outside of it all. Margery Ainsworth and I will probably be the old, staid spinsters of the class; we have found work enough to fill all our lives. By the way, Dolly, how long is Mr. Martin going to consent to wait for you? You have been engaged a couple of years now." "More than that, and his patience seems about exhausted," Dolly acknowledged with a frank blush. "So I presume that you will receive our cards immediately after Christmas." "It is your turn, now, Mary. What have you to say for yourself?" Constance continued mercilessly. "Absolutely nothing beyond what you already know. I have the position which I have coveted all my life, so, of course, I am quite satisfied." Despite Mary's words, however, there was a new tone in her voice, which made Dolly resolve to catechise her later. Something had happened, but Dolly could not make out what. "Your turn now, Elizabeth," commanded Constance. Dolly laughed mischievously. She alone knew that Beth really had some news to tell. "Shall I spare your blushes and help you out, dear? She has only been engaged two days now, so that she cannot carry her new honors as sedately as--" "As some people who have worn an engagement ring for two years and a half," Beth interposed. "I'll tell my own story, Dolly Alden. Father has offered to take Mr. Steele into partnership this summer, and--" "And the daughter thought it such a good scheme that she is going to do likewise," Dolly interjected, and then after the first burst of astonishment was over, the girls had a long talk over their plans and hopes. It was a couple of hours later before Dolly found the quiet opportunity that she wanted for speaking to Mary. "Aren't you ever going to be good to Fred, Mary? He is one of the very best boys in the world." "I know it, and it doesn't seem fair to him that he should be wasting his time and thoughts on me." Dolly looked at her friend keenly. "You and Fred have some new understanding. Aren't you going to tell me what it is?"