Poor soul, how she longed for a home and husband of her own! But the realization of her dream seemed further off than ever now, and as she stood at her window gulping down her piteous sobs, she heard again, from the rose arbor, the gay laughter of the lovers, and curiosity made her descend to them, wondering what had caused their mirth. Leola, as pretty as a flower in her white gown, had a letter in her hand, and she and Ray, with their heads very close, were laughing over it together. “Oh, Miss Tuttle, this is so ridiculous I have laughed till I cried,” said Leola. “Only think, I have a lover, and he has made me a proposal of marriage.” “And,” added Ray, laughingly, “it is such a brilliant and desirable match that she is almost sorry she had promised to marry me before she received it!” “So you two are engaged?” cried Miss Tuttle, feeling the ground sink beneath her feet. “Oh, yes, Miss Tuttle, and I know you are not surprised. Won’t you congratulate us?” cried Leola’s handsome lover. “But please, please, don’t tell Uncle Hermann, for I think I begin to see through his plans now, and he will never consent for me to marry a poor artist when I could marry his rich neighbor, old Mr. Bennett,” laughed Leola. Poor Miss Tuttle gasped for breath, and sank helplessly on a garden chair, wishing she were dead and buried, so keen was her pain and humiliation. “You may read the old man’s letter if you like,” added the girl, thrusting it into her hand. The sorrowful spinster, who would have given all she possessed for such a letter, was forced to read the gushing and awkward love letter of the rich old widower to the merry girl, who laughed over it with her handsome young lover, and gayly passed around the fine box of bonbons that accompanied the epistle. “The dear old silly! I thought he looked on me still as a little girl,” she cried. “Now if he had only been sensible and asked you, Miss Tuttle, it would have been a charming arrangement in point of age and all that, you know.” Miss Tuttle winced at the innocent thrust of the happy girl, but she was so miserable that her pride fell from her like a garment, and she frankly assented, saying: “Yes, for I always admired Mr. Bennett, and if he had asked me I would have accepted him.” The young people instantly felt very sorry and sympathetic, and Leola proposed that when she gave him her answer she should give him a hint that he would be more successful with the governess than with the pupil. Miss Tuttle was so moved by this offer that she felt all her anger and jealousy give way, and took Leola into her heart again. “Oh, if you could only manage it I would be grateful forever,” she exclaimed. “You know I cannot stay on at Wheatlands when you are gone, Leola, for people would talk, and besides the fact that he is in arrears for my salary, we have had a bitter quarrel this morning,” and then, between tears and sobs, she blurted out all Wizard Hermann’s plans to the astonished lovers.