“I want to tell you that your comin’ has taken a load off my soul,” said Pilgrim, a gray, round-visaged woman who had a sentimental heart,” and so I said to Mr. Carter not three days since!  I know that Bottomley,” said Pilgrim with an Englishwoman’s admiring look for her lord, “would never have spoke so harsh if he had but known you might come back.  It’s been very bad, indeed, Miss, since you went, as we was tellin’ you a bit back.  Impudence, orders this way and that, confusion and what not, and Mr. Ward very wild, really very wild, and so at last Bottomley said he couldn’t stand it.”

“I’m hoping he will reconsider that,” Harriet said, pleasantly, with a glance at the face Bottomley tried to make inflexible.  “For I’m going to tell you two old friends some news.  We have always been friends, haven’t we?” said Harriet.

“It would be ’ard to be anything else, and I’ve said it before this!  It’s a different ’ouse with you in it!” Bottomley said.  Pilgrim, rocking to and fro, clasped Harriet’s hand to her breast, and beamed.  With no further preamble Harriet announced Isabelle’s death.

The servants were naturally shocked.  There were a few moments of ejaculatory and sorrowful surprise.  Her that was so young and so ’andsome, and went off so bold and high!  It didn’t seem possible, so far away from ’ome and all.

When this had died away, Harriet had more news.

“I’m going to tell you two something,” she began.  “You are the very first to know, and I know you’ll be glad.  Before I left the house last October, Mr. Carter did me the—­the great honour to ask me to—­to marry him.”

It gave her inward delight even to voice it; it made the miracle seem more real.  Bottomley and Pilgrim exchanged stupefied glances in a dead silence.

“I met him at eleven o’clock to-day,” Harriet finished. simply, “and we drove to Greenwich in Connecticut, and we were married at one o’clock.”

Bottomley and Pilgrim glanced again at each other, glanced at Harriet, opened their mouths slowly.

Then Pilgrim dropped the hand she was familiarly caressing, and Bottomley rose slowly to his feet.

“Oh, no!” Harriet said, flushing in utter confusion and with a nervous laugh.  “Oh, please!  Please sit down, Bottomley, and please don’t either of you think that it has made any difference.  Although I am Mrs. Carter now, I’m still Miss Nina’s companion!”

“To think of you bein’ Mrs. Carter!” Pilgrim marvelled in a whisper.

“Oh, sh—­sh—­sh!  You mustn’t say it even!” Harriet caught both their hands.  “No one must know.  I only told you so that you would help me, so that you would understand!  There will be no change, anywhere—­”

Bottomley shook a dazed head; but Pilgrim looked at the other woman with kindly eyes, and presently said: 

“Well, now, it’s hard on you, so young and pretty and all, and goin’ right on as if you wasn’t married a bit!”