A Lover in Homespun | Page 8

and the
bitterness for him, and his heart rebelled fiercely.
Near the house, partly shaded by a friendly apple-tree, was a bench,
where Vital often sat. When they reached it, Katie let go of his arm and
seated herself upon it.

"She wants to be alone until she can compose herself to go into the
house," he thought, and was hurrying away, when she called to him. He
retraced his steps and stood before her.
"Sit down, Vital."
This time he had not made a mistake; there was something in the tone
of her voice which made him tremble with happiness. Willingly he
obeyed the invitation.
For a few moments she sat and twined her fingers together nervously.
She knew how dear she was to him, and wanted to make amends.
"I have been very cruel to you to-night, Vital," she began in a low,
uneven tone.
Wrathfully he began to deny such an outrageous statement.
"I thought you would like to know," she continued, falteringly, when
his indignation had somewhat subsided, "that you are mistaken in that
about Zotique and me; we are not engaged. I--I--told him, no." It was
hard to tell him this; but she had treated him so very badly and had
taken such an unfair advantage of his trusting nature.
The sudden relief from the restraint he had borne so long made him
lose command of himself altogether. He sprang quickly to his feet, and
looking down at the fair averted face, said, with the love-light beaming
in his eyes, "I love you, too, Katie." It was only after the words were
spoken that he realized his amazing boldness. As he stood abashed, a
warm, sweet hand crept into his. The daring fellow held it tightly!
"I can't tell you how glad I am that you love me, for I love you, too." In
the twinkling of an eye he was sitting by her side.
"Once agin bow to de ladies!" And to think that he should ever have
thought Magloire Meloche had a coarse voice, and that his fiddle was
always out of tune! He had sorely maligned him. When they married,
he decided mentally, he should have Magloire play at the wedding.

A laudable feeling of pity for the other little hand, which looked so
lonely on the bench there, caused him to reach over and take possession
of it, too. Then Katie made a full confession of her duplicity. She told
him how she had seen the seat he had been saving for her the moment
she entered the kitchen, but had wilfully pretended not to notice it in
order to tease him. As for his speech, she was sure it had sounded as
sweet to everyone at the table as it had to her, for they all knew that he
had fully meant all the kindly things he had said about Zotique. His
heart beat riotously as he heard her tell how badly she had been
crowded at the table, and how all the time she had longed to be sitting
next to him. When she declared she knew the reason of his seasoning
his food in such a remarkable manner, was because she had not been by
his side, he declared her to be a perfect mind-reader.
"All tak hands for de last time!" The sonorous tones brought them
down to earth once more. She started to her feet and caught his hand.
"Quick! quick!" she said; "we must get into the house before the dance
stops, or they will miss us and we shall be teased."
Hand in hand, like two happy children, they began to run. As
laughingly they turned the corner of the house they ran straight into the
arms of a tall young man. They both uttered an exclamation, and
looked up. It was Zotique!
Over Zotique's shoulder the shameless moon shone full into their
startled faces. A child could have read their story. In the surprise of the
moment they forgot to unclasp hands.
As he looked down at them an angry flush mounted to his brow, and
then with a constrained nod Zotique stepped aside as though to
continue his walk. But a closer look into Vital's face aroused a more
generous spirit, and turning, he caught their clasped hands in his great
ones, sympathetically pressed them, and without a word passed on. He
would have liked to wish them happiness, but his heart ached so!
They entered the house just as Magloire took the fiddle from his
shoulder, and the dancers, with flushed faces, sat down to rest. Katie
was soon surrounded by a circle of admirers, and then, unnoticed, Vital

slipped away, and hurried into the garden.
Zotique was nowhere in sight, but Vital knew just where he would find
him. When he came to