n would vanish.

By way of guarantee, Flora pressed her beautiful lips to Fanny's
forehead, and gently bade her, from henceforth, call her Flora and
nothing else. There was to be no more strangeness between them. They
were now to be friends, firm friends.

Only with the greatest difficulty did Lady Szentirmay succeed in
preventing Fanny from flinging herself at her feet; the poor girl had to
be content with hiding her head in Flora's breast and sobbing; and when
she had wept there to her heart's content, then only did she feel happy,
oh so happy!

"Come, come, my dear Fanny!" said Flora at last, with a friendly smile;
"don't you think we have had as much of this as will do us good? Listen
to me! If you promise never to talk about this again, I will remain here
with you a whole--a whole week."

On hearing this it was as much as Fanny could do to prevent herself from
shedding fresh tears, tears of joy.

"And after that I will help you to make the necessary preparations for
the coming housewarming which your husband has resolved to give. Oh, you
would never imagine how much there is to be done, and how weary you
would get over it; but if there are two of us, we shall be able to make
quite a jest of it all, and how we shall both laugh at the many funny
little mishaps which are sure to occur!"

And then the pair of them fell a laughing. Why, of course it would be
one of the funniest, merriest affairs in the world--of course it would.

Meanwhile it afforded Fanny infinite delight to relieve Flora of her
hat, mantle, and every other sort of impoundable article which it is the
custom to deprive arriving guests of, as a greater security against
their running away. Then they sat down together, and the conversation
turned naturally upon women's dress, women's needlework, and other
similar trifles which generally interest gentlewomen, so that by the
time Dame Marion returned with old Karpathy from the family archives,
there was no longer any trace of the passionate and touching scene that
had taken place between the two ladies, but they were conversing with
each other like old, like good old, acquaintances.

"Ah, ha!" said Dame Marion, wagging her head when she observed Flora
without hat or mantle. "You are making yourself quite at home, I must
say."

"Yes, aunt; I am going to stay here for a short time with Fanny."

Dame Marion, with an air of astonishment, looked around her into every
corner of the room, and then up a