By the time he reached London, Jeremiah had recovered his composure, and had flattered himself into the belief that there was nothing to fear from the miser's threats. At all events, he would take care of himself. "He warned me to be careful," thought Jeremiah. "Let _him_ be careful, or it will be the worse for him!" Meanwhile Phoebe was enjoying a very heaven upon earth. There comes such a time to many, when life is sweet and beautiful, and all things are fair. Was there ever such a lover as Fred--so manly, so thoughtful, so devoted? Her heart throbbed with profound gratitude to the Giver of all good for the great happiness which had fallen to her lot. "And, oh, dear aunt!" she said to Aunt Leth, "I have you to thank for it all." "You have only yourself to thank," said Aunt Leth; "and Fred is the luckiest man in the world." But with affectionate persistence Phoebe adhered to her belief that Aunt Leth was the ministering angel who had brought such light into her life. "If you had not been so good to me, I should never have seen him. To be able to prove my gratitude to you, that is my most earnest wish--and Fred's. He never tires of speaking of you, aunt. I think he loves you almost as much as Bob does." "It delights me to hear it, my dear child. He is a good man, and there is nothing but happiness before you." At such a joyful spring-time she would not cast a cloud upon the young girl's heart by giving expression to the fear which filled her own, that Phoebe's father might place an obstacle in the way of the fair future which her union with Fred Cornwall would insure for her; but she never gazed upon Phoebe's sunny face without inward agitation and anxiety. At such a joyful spring-time all that is woeful and sordid in surrounding aspect is touched with tender light; charity, that might have slept, dispenses blessings; the sight of suffering suffices for the exercise of practical sympathy. At such a joyful spring-time a pure maiden walks in paths of fairy colour, and her heart is a holy of holies. Into the prayers breathed by the bedside comes the beloved name, comes infinite worship, come sacred visions, comes gratitude for life and life's blessings. When daylight shines, for him this bit of ribbon at her throat, for him this rose at her breast--slight things, made wondrous and strangely beautiful by the ineffable sweetness of love's young dream! Truly, life's spring-time. "If you had your dearest wish," said Fred, "what would it be?" "That this day might last for ever," she whispered; "that we might never change." "Darling!" Thus passed the happy holiday, all too quickly. Then came a rude awakening. "Our last night," said Fred, "for a little while. How shall I live when you are not with me?" "Think of me," Phoebe murmured. To-morrow was Wednesday, and it had been arranged that Aunt Leth and Fred were to accompany Phoebe to Parksides, and that Fred should ask Phoebe's father for her hand.