“She has gone upstairs to remove the wedding veil that she was so reluctant to don, and will return presently,” answered Mrs. Fleming; but though Royall loitered near the stairway for half an hour, she did not come. Half an hour of the keenest impatience and longing for him, of the most exquisite joy for Dallas and Daisie. Between the two lovers there had been full explanations of everything, and renewed trust and confidence. As they lingered there in the moonlight beneath the fragrant rose vine, with the voice of the sea blending in their ears with the lilt of merry music, their hands entwined, their hearts in unison, there came to them a foretaste of heaven, if ’tis true, as poets tell us, that---- Love is heaven, and heaven is love. “And you will give up your fine, rich lover for me, my Daisie--for me, with love in a cottage?” cried Dallas fondly. “Can you doubt it?” she whispered back, blushing beneath the kiss with which he rewarded her devotion. “You will be my own sweet bride! Oh, what joy--what bliss! How--how have I deserved such a boon from Heaven!” he cried, remembering his agony just now, when he believed she was giving herself away to his rival. “Oh, Daisie,” he continued, “you shall never repent your sweet trust in me! I will make your life a dream of love and happiness. You say Royall Sherwood told you that my life was clouded with mystery, and that all mystery hid dishonor. Well, all shall be explained to you, and you shall know better, my precious love!” But at that moment they heard a light, grating laugh, and saw before them Mrs. Fleming leaning on Royall Sherwood’s arm. Royall had grown so impatient of Daisie’s long absence that he had insisted on having Mrs. Fleming find out the cause. So the unsuspecting lady called Letty Green, who was flirting with Cullen at the end of the hall, and demanded to know what Miss Bell was doing upstairs so long. Letty tossed her pert brown head, and replied that Miss Bell hadn’t gone upstairs at all. “Didn’t she go with you to remove her veil, girl?” cried Royall impatiently. “No, sir; she sent me upstairs to take it, and went to meet her beau,” returned the saucy maid. “What do you mean, Letty? Explain yourself, without any more trifling!” exclaimed her mistress, in a tone of sudden, sharp anxiety. Perhaps Letty had a grudge against her mistress, and knew that she could pay it off now, for she proceeded to recount, with sly enjoyment, her _rencontre_ with Dallas Bain. “He actually thought at first that ’twas a real marriage, and I almost feared the man would drop dead at my feet, he was so upset,” she cried. “But when I explained all to him--oh, what a change! His eyes just flashed with joy, and he crammed my hands full of money, saying: ‘I never loved any girl in my life but Daisie Bell, and I want you to slip in there and get her to come out here and see me, won’t you?’”