ETHELYN'S MISTAKE BY MRS. MARY J. HOLMES AUTHOR OF "MILDRED; OR, THE CHILD OF ADOPTION," "MISS MC'DONALD," "TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE," "ENGLISH ORPHANS," "EDITH LYLE'S SECRET," "THE LEIGHTON HOMESTEAD," "MILLBANK; OR, ROGER IRVING'S WARD," ETC. MARY J. HOLMES SERIES UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME By MARY J. HOLMES Aikenside. Bad Hugh. Cousin Maude. Darkness and Daylight. Dora Deane. Edith Lyle's Secret. English Orphans, The. Ethelyn's Mistake. Family Pride. Homestead on the Hillside, The. Hugh Worthington. Leighton Homestead, The. Lena Rivers. Maggie Miller. Marion Grey. Meadow Brook. Mildred; or, The Child of Adoption. Millbank; or, Roger Irving's Ward. Miss McDonald. Rector of St. Marks, The. Rosamond. Rose Mather. Tempest and Sunshine. _Price, postpaid, 50c. each, or any three books for $1.25_ CONTENTS CHAPTER I. ETHELYN. II. THE VAN BUREN SET. III. RICHARD MARKHAM. IV. THE BRIDAL. V. THE HONEYMOON. VI. MRS. MARKHAM'S WAYS. VII. GETTING HOME. VIII. ANDY. IX. DINNER, AND AFTER IT. X. FIRST DAYS IN OLNEY. XI. CALLS AND VISITING. XII. SOCIETY. XIII. GOING TO WASHINGTON. XIV. THE FIRST DAY OF RICHARD'S ABSENCE. XV. ANDY TRIES TO FIND THE ROOT OF THE MATTER. XVI. WASHINGTON. XVII. RICHARD'S HEIR. XVIII. DAYS OF CONVALESCENCE. XIX. COMING TO A CRISIS. XX. THE CRISIS. XXI. THE RESULT. XXII. ETHIE'S LETTERS. XXIII. THE DESERTED HUSBAND. XXIV. THE INVESTIGATION. XXV. IN CHICOPEE. XXVI. WATCHING AND WAITING. XXVII. AFFAIRS AT OLNEY. XXVIII. THE GOVERNOR. XXIX. AFTER YEARS OF WAITING. XXX. ETHIE'S SIC. XXXI. MRS. DR. VAN BUREN. XXXII. CLIFTON. XXXIII. THE OCCUPANT OF NO. 102. XXXIV. IN RICHARD'S ROOM. XXXV. MRS. PETER PRY TAKES A PACK. XXXVI. IN DAVENPORT. XXXVII. AT HOME. XXXVIII. RICHARD AND ETHELYN. XXXIX. RECONCILIATION. ETHELYN'S MISTAKE CHAPTER I ETHELYN There was a sweet odor of clover blossoms in the early morning air, and the dew stood in great drops upon the summer flowers, and dropped from the foliage of the elm trees which skirted the village common. There was a cloud of mist upon the meadows, and the windings of the river could be distinctly traced by the white fog which curled above it. But the fog and the mists were rolling away as the warm June sun came over the eastern hills, and here and there signs of life were visible in the little New England town of Chicopee, where our story opens. The mechanics who worked in the large shoe-shop halfway down Cottage Row had been up an hour or more, while the hissing of the steam which carried the huge manufactory had been heard since the first robin peeped from its nest in the alders down by the running brook; but higher up, on Bellevue Street, where the old inhabitants lived, everything was quiet, and the loamy road, moist and damp with the dews of the previous night, was as yet unbroken by the foot of man or rut of passing wheel.