They were warmly greeted by Mrs. Travilla and Mrs. Embury, who was still with her.

“I have something to show you, Maud, and an offer to make,” Elsie said with a smile, leading the young girl forward and pointing to the dress and veil disposed about an easy-chair in a way to exhibit them in all their beauty.

“Oh!” cried Maud, “how lovely! how lovely!  I never saw them before.  Whose were they?  Where did they come from, Cousin Elsie?”

“I wore them when—­when I was married,” Elsie answered in low, sad tones; “they have not been used since, but I will lend them to you, dear Maud, if you would like to use them for your bridal.”

“Oh, Cousin Elsie! wouldn’t I?  How good, how good in you!  I am too hurried to buy anything, and that lace is far beyond my purse if I had any amount of time.”

“Then I am glad I thought of offering you the use of these.  But now I think it would be well for you to try on the dress and see what—­if any—­alteration it needs.  We will go into my dressing room, and I will be your tire-woman,” she added, gathering up the dress as she spoke, while Mrs. Embury took the veil.

The three passed into the dressing room, leaving Mr. Dinsmore sole occupant of the boudoir, he taking up a book to amuse himself with while they were gone.

Only a few minutes had passed when they returned, Maud looking very bridelike in the dainty satin and the veil.

“Bravo, cousin!  You look every inch a bride, and a lovely one at that!” he exclaimed.  “I advise you by all means to accept my sister’s offer.  You could not do better.”

“I could hardly want to do better,” said Maud.  “Yes, Cousin Elsie, I accept it with a world of thanks.  Oh, I never dreamed of having anything so lovely to wear for my bridal dress!  And I need not care that the finery does not really belong to me, for you know the old saying: 

“’Something borrowed,
Something blue,
Something old and
Something new.’

I’ll borrow these, put a bow of blue ribbon on my under waist, and—­ah! the dress and this lovely lace, veil and all, will be enough of something old!” she concluded with a light, gleeful laugh.

“Dear child, don’t be superstitious!” Mrs. Travilla said with a rather sad sort of smile, putting an arm round her and giving her a tender kiss.  “I hope and trust you will be very happy with dear Dick, for he is a noble fellow; but it will depend more upon yourself—­upon your being a true, good, and loving wife—­than on what you wear when you give yourself to him, or at any other time.”

“Yes, I know, dear cousin,” said Maud, returning the caress; “that was only my jest.  I wouldn’t be afraid to marry Dick in any kind of dress, or willing to marry anybody else in any kind of one.  I didn’t know that I was in love with him till he proposed, but now I feel that it would be impossible to love anybody else; almost impossible to live without him and his love.”