“Sweetheart!” he cried, and their lips met after that long year of silence and sorrow and pain--Jessie Stirling’s year of revenge for all she had lost by her own unworthiness. “I could die now!” Leola murmured, faintly, as she clung to his breast. “No, you must live for me, my bonny bride!” he answered, and presently they were seated, hand in hand, going over the past. When she told him of her meeting with Jessie that morning, and of all she had said, Chester turned coaxingly to his lovely sweetheart. “So she will have me married in July, willy-nilly!” he said. “Well, then, why disappoint her plans, my darling? We can be married just as well as not in July, if you will only consent.” “Why, July is only two weeks off, Ray!” “Well, we can make it the last of July, you know, dear--it is so easy to get a trousseau here in Paris, don’t you know? Say yes, Leola, do,” he pleaded. “We must ask papa first, you know,” she said. “Papa will never stand in the way of our happiness,” he cried, eagerly. “But, Ray, he will be so lonely.” “No, dear, for he must come to Bonnie View and live with us, so he will only gain a son instead of losing a daughter.” Alston Mead was easily brought to take Chester’s view of the case, the more easily because he had in his heart a secret he would never confide to any. In the last few years an incurable disease of the heart had fastened upon him, and the most eminent physicians had told him he had not much longer to live, even if he settled down to quiet days for the rest of his life. It had pained him to think of leaving beautiful Leola alone in the world, heiress to his wealth, perhaps to become the prey of designing fortune-hunters. Now all that tangle would be straightened out by her speedy marriage. He gave consent gladly to all that Chester Olyphant proposed, and he said to himself: “Now, whether I die in a few months or live long enough to name my first grandchild, I shall pass away in peace, knowing that Leola’s heart can rest safely in her husband’s love.” So Chester had his way, to the delight of all, and the invitations went out soon for the wedding at the grand cathedral, for Chester wanted all the world to see his peerless bride. Most especially did he wish Jessie Stirling to be present, so in the invitation that went to her was a note from the happy groom-to-be: “My Dear Miss Stirling: As you saved me the trouble of setting my wedding day by naming it for July, Leola and I will insure your reputation as a prophet by accepting the date.” When Jessie read that note, with Chester Olyphant’s name signed to it, she tore it to tatters in her fury, but that did not prevent her from showing the elegant invitation to her employer, and saying, hesitatingly: “I was once engaged to young Olyphant myself, but his love grew cold when my fortunes failed, and I willingly released him.”