What a moment it would be when she should take the fair young girl by the hand and lead her to St. George in all her enchanting beauty! Several moments passed, yet the door did not open. Alva guessed now all the cause of Floy’s timidity, but she wondered at the girl’s delay. If she really loved St. George, why did she not hasten to his side? Lifting his head from her shoulder, he asked again, eagerly: “Where is my darling?” “She is here in this house, St. George, alive, uninjured, more beautiful than ever. I have sent for her. She will be here in a moment.” “You have planned all this to surprise me! Oh, what a joyful moment!” he cried, with his eager eyes on the door. “No, it is you who surprised us, dear. We knew her only as my model. How could we guess she was your little sweetheart whose name you did not tell? And as for her, she did not breathe her secret.” “Because I bid her not,” he explained. And while they waited with burning impatience for Floy to appear, they told him all they knew of the fair girl who had so interested his mother from the first moment of their meeting. St. George listened with breathless interest to every word, his heart throbbing with joy, his blood bounding through his veins with new life. “If you had only written me her name, dear, all this trouble would have been avoided, for Floy won my heart at our first meeting, and I should not have been able to steel my heart against the little beauty!” cried his mother. “And you will welcome her as a daughter?” he asked. “Proudly,” she answered, smilingly. “And you, father?” Mr. Beresford laughed, and answered, blandly: “My son, I have always been under petticoat government since I married this proud lady, your mother. Her indorsement of your choice secures my consent.” How bright the future looked at that moment to them all! But the next instant Alva’s maid entered the room with so grave a face that it instantly sobered the happy party. “Where is Miss Fane?” cried Alva, impatiently. “Oh, Miss Alva, I wish I could answer that question; but--but I’ve been all over the house--everywhere--and she’s not in it. And then I went back to her room and searched more closely, and I’m afraid she has gone away, for--I found this note for you, miss,” answered Honora, in real distress, as she presented her mistress with a square blue envelope addressed in Floy’s hand. CHAPTER XLII. A YOUNG GIRL’S PRIDE. Alva took the letter from Honora amid cries of dismay from them all. She broke the seal, and as she opened the letter, a flashing diamond ring fell out into her hand from the closely written sheet. “It is the ring I gave her when we became engaged,” exclaimed St. George, taking it and kissing it in memory of that night, his heart thrilling with the memory of her beauty and sweetness as he kissed her good-bye beneath the drooping vines. Alva read aloud, knowing how impatient they would be to hear the letter: