You didn't know what Webb was about."
"Didn't I, Webb--as long ago as last October, too?"
"Oh, Webb, you ought to have told me first," said Amy, reproachfully,
when they were alone.
"I did not tell Maggie; she saw," Webb answered. Then, taking a rosebud
which she had been wearing, he pushed open the petals with his finger,
and asked, "Who told me that 'this is no way for a flower to bloom'? I've
watched and waited till your heart was ready, Amy." And so the time flew
in mutual confidences, and the past grew clear when illumined by love.
"Poor old Webb!" said Amy, with a mingled sigh and laugh. "There you were
growing as gaunt as a scarecrow, and I loving you all the time. What a
little goose I was! If you had looked at Gertrude as Burt did I should
have found myself out long ago. Why hadn't you the sense to employ Burt's
tactics?"
"Because I had resolved that nature should be my sole ally. Was not my
kiss under the mistletoe a better way of awakening my sleeping beauty
than a stab of jealousy?"
"Yes, Webb, dear, patient Webb. The rainbow shield was a true omen, and I
am sheltered indeed."
CHAPTER LX
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
Leonard had long since gone to the depot, and now the chimes of his
returning bells announced that Burt and Gertrude were near. To them both
it was in truth a coming home. Gertrude rushed in, followed by the
exultant Burt, her brilliant eyes and tropical beauty rendered tenfold
more effective by the wintry twilight without; and she received a welcome
that accorded with her nature.
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