It was cool, curt, airy, almost to insolence; a fitting match for her own; and Roma gasped and almost fainted. Where was all her boasting, now, that she would teach him a lesson; that he would be back in a day begging her to take back his ring? She had met her match; she realized it now; remembering, all too late, how hard he had been to win; a lukewarm lover, after all, and perhaps glad now of his release. Oh, if she could but have recalled that silly note, she would have given anything she possessed, for all the heart she had had been lavished on him. With a genuine sob of choking regret, she flung the humiliating note to her mother, and sank into a chair, her face hidden in her hands. Mrs. Clarke read, and exclaimed: "Really, he need not comment on your temper while displaying an equally hasty one so plainly. He must certainly be very angry, but I suppose his suffering adds to his impatience." "He--he--will forgive me when he reads my second note!" sobbed Roma. "But you do not intend to send it now, Roma!" exclaimed Mrs. Clarke, with a certain resentment of her own at Jesse's brusqueness. But Roma could be very inconsistent--overbearing when it was permitted to her; humble when cowed. She lifted up a miserable face, replying eagerly: "Oh, yes, mamma, for I was plainly in the wrong, and deserve that he should be angry with me. But he will be only too glad to forgive me when he reads my note of repentance. Please go at once, dear mamma, and make my peace with Jesse! You will know how to plead with him in my behalf! Oh, don't look so cold and disapproving, mamma, for I love him so it would break my heart to lose him now. And--and--if he made love to any other girl, I should like to--to--see her lying dead at my feet! Oh, go; go quickly, and hasten back to me with my ring again and Jesse's forgiveness!" She was half mad with anxiety and impatience, and she almost thrust Mrs. Clarke from the room in her eagerness for her return. It mattered not that she could see plainly how distasteful it was to the gentle lady to go on such a mission; she insisted on obedience, and waited with passionate impatience for her mother's return, saying to herself: "He is certainly very angry, but she will coax him to make up, and hereafter I will be very careful not to let him slip me again. I can be humble until we are married, and rule afterward. Mamma will not dare leave him without getting his forgiveness for me. She knows my temper, and that I would blame her always if she failed of success." But there are some things that even a loving, slavish mother cannot accomplish, even at the risk of a child's anger. Jesse Devereaux's reconciliation to Roma was one of them. The mother returned after a time, pale and trembling, to Roma, saying nervously: "Call your pride to your aid, dear Roma, for Jesse was obdurate, and would not consent to renew the engagement. I am indeed sorry that I humbled myself to ask it." CHAPTER IX. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.