“Stay here! You are crazy, Miss Maddy! ’Tain’t no place for a girl like you, and Mr. Remington never will suffer it, I know,” Flora rejoined, as she resumed her work, thinking she “should die to be moped up in that nutshell of a house.” With a little sigh as she foresaw the opposition she should probably meet with from Guy, Maddy went on with her toilet, which was soon completed, as it did not take long to arrange the dark calico dress and plain linen collar which she wore. She was not as fresh-looking as usual that morning, for excitement and fatigue had lent a paleness to her cheek, and a languor to her whole appearance, but Flora, who glanced anxiously after her as she went out, muttered to herself, “She was never more beautiful, and I don’t wonder an atom that Mr. Guy thinks so much of her.” The kitchen was in perfect order, for Flora had been busy there as elsewhere. The kettle was boiling on the stove, while two or three little covered dishes were ranged upon the hearth, as if waiting for some one. Grandpa Markham had gone out, but Uncle Joseph sat in his accustomed corner, rubbing his hands when he saw Maddy, and nodding mysteriously toward the front room, the door of which was open, so that Maddy could hear the fire crackling on the hearth. “Go in, go in,” Uncle Joseph said, waving his hand in that direction. “My Lord Governor is in there waiting for you. He won’t let me spit on the floor any more as Martha did, and I’ve swallowed so much that I’m almost choked.” Continual spitting was one of Uncle Joseph’s worst habits, and as his sister had indulged him in it, it had become a source of great annoyance to every one. Thinking that Uncle Joseph referred to her grandfather, and feeling glad that the latter had attempted a reform, she entered the room known at the cottage as the parlor, where the rag carpet and the six cane-seated chairs and the Boston rocker were kept, and where now the little round table was nicely laid for two, while, cozily seated in the rocking-chair, reading last night’s paper, and looking very handsome and happy, was Guy! When Maddy prayed that he might come and see her she did not expect an answer so soon, and she started back in much surprise, while Guy came easily forward to greet her, asking how she was, and telling her she looked tired and thin; then making her take the chair he had vacated, he stood over her, while he continued: