* * * * *

Ethelinda had dried her eyes. Every few minutes she glanced anxiously at
the little French clock over her easel.

"What on earth can they be doing?" she murmured. And when the long hour
struck she arose with resolution and knocked at the door.

"Come in," said her father, irritably, "but don't interrupt. William and
I are engaged in a very important business transaction."

[Illustration: ]



V


SACHARISSA


_Treating of Certain Scientific Events Succeeding the Wedding Journey of
William and Ethelinda_

Sacharissa took the chair. She knew nothing about parliamentary
procedure; neither did her younger, married sister, Ethelinda, nor the
recently acquired family brother-in-law, William Augustus Destyn.

"The meeting will come to order," said Sacharissa, and her brother-in-law
reluctantly relinquished his new wife's hand--all but one finger.