Make my excuses, my dear; tell them I have had a sudden attack of gout, if you like, or anything else that comes uppermost." "But, papa," expostulated Kate, very much surprised, for the master of Danton Hall was eminently social in his habits, "I should like you to come so much, and the Ponsonbys will be so disappointed." "They'll survive it, my dear, never fear.

I prefer staying at home with Grace and Father Francis, who will drop in by-and-by.

There, Kate, my dear, don't waste your breath coaxing.

Reginald, take her away." Mr.Stanford, with the faintest shadow of a knowing smile on his face, took Kate's arm and led her down stairs.
"The brown eyes and serene face of your demure housekeeper have stronger charms for my papa-in-law than anything within the four walls of the Ponsonbys.

What would Kate say, I wonder, if I told her ?" As usual, Captain Danton's two daughters were the belles of the room.
Kate was queenly as ever, and as far out of the reach of everything masculine, with one exception, as the moon; Rose, in a changeful silk, half dove, half pink, that blushed as she walked, with a wreath of ivy in her glossy hair, turned heads wherever she went.