She determined to dress with extraordinary care.  The occasion warranted it, surely; for it was not only Christmas Eve, it was also her betrothal eve.  She put on her richest garment, a handsome gown of dark blue silk and velvet.  A spray of mistletoe-berries was in her black hair, and a glittering necklace of fine sapphires enhanced the beauty and whiteness of her exquisite neck and shoulders.  She was delighted with the effect of her own brave apparel, and also a little excited with the course events had taken, or she never would have so far forgotten the privileges of her elder birth as to visit Charlotte’s room first on such an important personal occasion.

Charlotte was still wrapped in her dressing-gown, lazily musing before the crackling, blazing fire.  Her hands were clasped above her head, her feet comfortably extended upon the fender, her eyes closed.  She had been a little tired with buffeting the storm; and the hot tea, which Mrs. Sandal had insisted upon as a preventative of cold, had made her, as she told Sophia, “deliciously dozy.”

“But dinner will be ready in half an hour, and you have to dress yet, Charlotte.  How do I look?”

“You look charming.  How bright your eyes are, Sophia!  I never saw you look so well.  How much Julius will admire you to-night!”

“As to that, Julius always admires me.  He says he used to dream about me, even before he saw me.”

“Oh, you know that is nonsense!  He couldn’t do that.  I dare say he dreams about you now, though.  I should think he would like to.”

“You will have to hurry, Charlotte.”

“I can dress in ten minutes if I want to.”

“I will leave you now.”  She hesitated a moment at the door, but she could not bring herself to speak of her engagement.  She saw that Charlotte was in one of her “no-matter-every-thing-right” moods, and knew she would take the important news without the proper surprise and enthusiasm.  In fact, she perceived that Harry’s visit occupied her whole mind; for, as she stood a moment or two irresolute as to her own desires, Charlotte talked eagerly of her brother.

“Well, I hope if Harry is of so much importance in your eyes, you will dress decently to meet him.  The rector is coming to dinner also.”

“I shall wear my blue gown.  If I imitate you, I cannot be much out of the way.  Heigh-ho!  Heigh-ho!  I hope Harry will have a pleasant visit.  We must do our best, Sophia, to make him happy.”

“O Charlotte, if you have nothing to talk about but Harry, Harry, Harry, I am going!  I am very fond of Harry, but I don’t pretend to be blind to Harry’s faults.  Remember how many disagreeable hours he has given us lately.  And I must say that I think he was very ungrateful about the hundred and eighty pounds I gave him.  He never wrote me a line of thanks.”

“You did not give it to Harry, you loaned it to me.  Be just Sophia.  I have paid you fifteen pounds of it back already, and I shall not buy a single new dress until it is all returned.  You will not lose a shilling, Sophia.”