surrounding country,
the meadows, and the farm-houses lying here and there on either side of
the steep road up which they went.

"Would the lady like her or be displeased with her?" she asked herself.

She determined to throw herself heart and soul into her work and try to
forget the past--what might have been had her lover proved true, instead
of being so cruelly false. Her red lips quivered piteously at the
thought.

Her musings were brought to an end by the lumbering coach turning in at
a large gate-way flanked by huge stone pillars, and proceeding leisurely
up a wide road that led through a densely wooded park.

Very soon Bernardine beheld the house--a granite structure with no end
of gables and dormer-windows--half hidden by climbing vines, which gave
to the granite pile a very picturesque appearance just now, for the
vines were literally covered with sweet-scented honeysuckles in full
bloom.

Mrs. King, the housekeeper, received Bernardine.

"I hope you will like it here," she said, earnestly; "but it is a dull
place for one who is young, and longs, as girls do, for gayety and life.
You are too tired to see Mrs. Gardiner to-night after your long journey.
I will show you to your room after you have had some tea."

The housekeeper was right in her surmise. It did look like an
inexpressibly dreary place when Bernardine looked about at the great
arched hall.

Grand old paintings, a century old, judging by their antiquated look,
hung upon the walls. A huge clock stood in one corner, and on either
side of it there were huge elk heads, with spreading antlers tipped with
solid gold.

To add to the strangeness of the place, a bright log fire burned in a
huge open fire-place, which furnished both light and heat to the main
corridor.

"This fire is never allowed to burn out, either in summer or winter,"
the housekeeper explained, "because the great hall is so cold and gloomy
without it."

While Bernardine was drinking her tea, a message came to her that Mrs.
Gardiner would see her in her _boudoir_.

The housekeeper led the way through a long corridor, and when she
reached the further end of it, she turned toward the right, and drawing
aside the heavy crimson velvet _portieres_, Bernardine was ushered into
a magnificent apartment.

The windows were of stained glass, ornamented with rare pictures,
revealed by the light shining through them from an inner room; the
chandeliers, with their crimson globes, gave