Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/345

 "I can't leave you, Sara; I never saw you so upset before."

"You must go, dear, dear Darius; but come back soon, for I don't know, indeed, what ails me. I am afraid to be alone with my thoughts, they are so strange and terrible."

She was missed at the church by many; most of all by the susceptible young Ruysdale, on whose heart her perfections had made a very deep impression. They came in search of her when the bridal party returned to the house; and yielding to their solicitation, Sara Harden touched her pale cheeks with a little rouge—for perhaps the second time in her life—and joined the festivities below. Her usual vivacious spirits were missing, however,—which did not prevent the feast from being a merry one; for confiding her depression to the favored cousin, she passed the time with him in a remote corner of the conservatory, where the casual observer supposed them to be carrying on a desperate flirtation. Here Bouton de Rose came in search of her, and here he did brave and valiant battle with the cousin for possession of the seat by the little lady's side. But the impressionable Ruysdale was immovable; and until the moment came when all gathered together to say farewell to the bride, they remained in the shadow of the palms.