Felicity, forgetting completely he new-found efforts to be ladylike, burst into the kitchen and caused her mother to say, "Felicity, what are you tearing about for?" as she took the basket from Felicity's hands. Felicity caught her breath before saying, "Ben's back from the army!" and started peeling apples for pie. Mrs. Merriman smiled but then a thought struck her. "You didn't leave him out in the cold, did you?" she said, never knowing if Felicity would follow manners or not. "Oh mother, of course I didn't. He's quite comfortable in the parlor as we speak," Felicity said contentedly. Mrs. Merriman nodded approval.
"Ow!" Felicity suddenly exclaimed. She was trying to get through the apple quickly as possible, impatient as usual, when she cut herself on the sharp knife blade. She made a heroic effort to carry on despite the pain but after getting blood on the apple Mrs. Merriman said smartly, "Felicity, I can see we're not going to get a lick of work done if you're in here in this state. Go entertain Ben." Mrs. Merriman had hit the mark. She knew perfectly well why Felicity was fidgety. Felicity nodded eagerly. "Yes mother, thank you mother!" and she flew out the door. When Felicity was gone, Nan rolled her eyes. "How CAN she fly about so, mother? Doesn't she know that she should take small steps? And why is she so excited about Ben coming back, anyway? He's just a boy." Mrs. Merriman just said, "Felicity liked Ben. He helped her with her horses and was a good friend to her. You'd be excited when a friend came back from a long trip too, would you not, Nan?" Nan shrugged and nodded, leaning over her now-under-control soup pot.

Felicity finally came to sense of mind at the door and she tugged and pulled at her apron, muttering under her breath, "Bother, I tied it too tight." She finally got it undone and hid it behind her back till she could put it upstairs. She tidied her hair and walked slowly into the parlor where Ben was sitting, looking quite bored and as if he could use a sprite of a girl to amuse him. Felicity was just that sprite. She walked into the parlor as ladylike as she could, such an endeavor that was not used to her, so it made her look quite funny and Ben could not resist the urge to laugh out loud. Felicity turned to him, made a fake hurt expression, and sat down rather haughtily on the sofa. This only made him laugh more, and at that sound Felicity just couldn't help laughing herself. Soon they were just laughing over the fact that they were alive. So it was this scene of merriment which met the eyes of Mr. Merriman and William when they came through the door after a hard day's work at the store.
William, young and unable to control himself, started chuckling just because they were. Mr. Merriman, in danger of laughing himself, broke it all up for fear they would lose their wits soon. Imagine his surprise when he saw Ben sitting there!
"Ben, is that you?" Mr. Merriman said, holding out a friendly hand in Ben's direction. Ben shook it and said, "Yes, it's me, Sir. Back from the patriot army a new man!" he spoke with all the vigor of five years ago. Mr. Merriman and Ben sat down and had a long, manly talk which Nan would have died of boredom from, but Felicity listened to with interest, as it was about the war and how it had affected the people and at the end, the talked turned to horses in an effort to include Felicity in. Join in, Felicity did, telling Ben all about Penny and Patriot and Anne and promising him a trip to the stable as soon as mother would allow it. It was getting dark and Felicity was lighting the lamp when Mrs. Merriman, Nan, and Polly came in with supper. Felicity helped them put it on the table and the lot of them, including Martin whom had just come in from the stables, sat down to eat. The blessing was special that night, including thanks that Ben was home safe and with them.

After supper there was more merry talk, including Nan and Mrs. Merriman in it. Polly was too young to understand much of it. Felicity challenged Ben to a game of chess, claiming that she had practiced on William and would now be able to trounce him. They were a splendid sight, leaned over the chess board, faces and Felicity's bright hair lit up in the firelight. A person with imagination might have thought they were lovers, but in reality that wasn't present in Felicity's mind as she captured Ben's knight.
Half an hour later the game was still in high gear. Felicity was winning, but only by a few pieces. Ben was purposefully leading her into a game trap that he had planned out. Felicity sealed her fate by capturing Ben's last pawn with her queen, and by a few clever moves he won the game. "You sly cat!" Felicity said, good-naturedly but still mad because she hadn't shown him she could win against him yet. Mr. Merriman thumped Ben on the back in congratulations, for he had played against Felicity himself and couldn't beat her. Mrs. Merriman laughed and, now that the excitement was over, sent Nan, William, and Polly to bed. As the looser, Felicity was in charge of gathering up the pieces. They always had the chessboard out so that two could begin a game whenever they wanted to, so all she did was put the pieces back in order. Ben offered to play another game with Felicity but she said, "I'd like to, Ben, but I'm very tired and I should probably go to bed, as I have lessons with Miss Manderly tomorrow." Ben nodded and let Felicity go, Mr. Merriman starting a new game with him instead. "Goodnight!" she said lightly to everyone in the room.

Felicity went up to her bedchamber with a light heart. The weight of not knowing if Ben would come back was lifted and she had had a fine time. She changed into her nightshift, brushed her hair and tied on her cap. Then she said her prayers, thanking her Heavenly Father for keeping Ben safe. Finally she extinguished her light and climbed into bed, drawing the heavy curtains shut around her to keep out the autumn chill.