Her breath was coming quicker , and the faint blush on her smooth cheeks had deepened to crimson . She knew that a critical moment was approaching . With a steady hand she wrote the last name on her list and drew a line under it . `` Well , have you finished ? '' asked her mother impatiently . `` Hand it here and let me look over it to make sure that you have n't left anybody out that should be in . '' Rachel passed the paper across the table in silence . The room seemed to her to have grown very still . She could hear the flies buzzing on the panes , the soft purr of the wind about the low eaves and through the apple boughs , the jerky beating of her own heart . She felt frightened and nervous , but resolute . Mrs. Spencer glanced down the list , murmuring the names aloud and nodding approval at each . But when she came to the last name , she did not utter it . She cast a black glance at Rachel , and a spark leaped up in the depths of the pale eyes . On her face were anger , amazement , incredulity , the last predominating . The final name on the list of wedding guests was the name of David Spencer . David Spencer lived alone in a little cottage down at the Cove . He was a combination of sailor and fisherman . He was also Isabella Spencer 's husband and Rachel 's father . `` Rachel Spencer , have you taken leave of your senses ? What do you mean by such nonsense as this ? ''
`` I simply mean that I am going XXXXX invite my father to my wedding , '' answered Rachel quietly .
On With across as at in out through to under