"I am jealous of him," said Rose. "But why did he run away? I want to
know all your friends."

"I suspect the truth is he left out of consideration for you and myself,"
said Browning. "He knew how I felt, and he hoped I would not be
disappointed, and I suspect he thought the sacredness of our joy ought
not to be disturbed."

"Very fine, of course," said Grace; "very thoughtful and considerate, but
why did he not stop to ask himself if it was quite fair to leave me all
alone."

"You are right, Gracie," said Browning, "and this act of his shows an
absence of mind on his part that I did not expect."

Then all laughed, but Grace blushed a little while she laughed.

Then Mrs. Hamlin came in. She warmly congratulated the happy pair.

They strolled into the sitting-room, and soon after the mail was brought
in. The first things the girls seized upon were the papers from
Devonshire, for they were like other people. Men and women live in a
place for years, and daily express the belief that the home paper is the
worst specimen they ever saw, but let one of them absent himself or
herself for a week, and the same newspaper from the old home is the one
thing they want above all others. Glancing over the paper, Grace suddenly
looked up and said: "Why, they had a wonderfully exciting episode down
in ---- on Sunday last." She had come upon the account of the exploit
with the bull, and read it aloud.