The young people had a merry time over their breakfast the next morning, rehearsing all they had gone through in their celebration of Hallowe'en, each one seeming to have enjoyed his or her part in it. They lingered over the meal, but soon after leaving the table scattered to their homes, excepting Eva, who returned to Woodburn with Max and Lucilla.
On arriving there Lucilla hastened to the library, where she found her father examining some business letters.
"Good-morning, papa!" she said. "Here is your amanuensis, and haven't you something for her to do?"
"Yes," he replied, looking up at her with a smile, as she stood close at his side, "and the first thing is to give her father a kiss; that is, if she will not find it a disagreeable task."
"Anything else than that, father dear," she returned, bending down to give and receive a caress. "And won't you let me help, as usual, with your correspondence?"
"I shall be very glad to do so," he returned, rising to take the cover from her typewriter, and put the paper in place. Then she seated herself and he began dictating. When they had finished, "Did you miss me last night and this morning, father?" she asked.
"I did indeed," he said; "but that is something I will have to get used to, when Chester takes you from me."
"Oh, papa, don't sigh so over it!" she exclaimed. "You know it isn't as if I had to go away to a distance from you. I shall be close at hand, and you can call me to your side whenever you will."
"Which will be pretty often, I think," he said, with a smile, drawing her closer to him, and caressing her hair and cheek with his hand. "Had you a pleasant time last evening? And did you go to bed in season, as your father would have seen that you did had you been at home?"
"No, I did not get to bed early, papa," she replied. "I thought you would excuse me for staying up, for once, to try my fortune. For you see, we all wanted to know who were to be our future life partners, Rosie telling us that there was 'many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,' so that our engagements didn't make us safe."
She concluded with a light laugh and look that seemed to say she felt no fear that he would be seriously displeased with her.
"You stayed up to try your fortune, did you?" he returned, with a look of amusement. "Why, my child, I thought you considered it already made."