"Why! who is that lady in garnet velvet and point lace?"

"That is a Mrs. Stewart, a very wealthy woman, who resides at the
Copley Square Hotel," was the reply.

"Oh, is that Mrs. Stewart?" said madam, with eager interest.

"Yes; but are you not acquainted with her?" questioned her guest, with
a look of well-bred astonishment.

"No; and no wonder you think it strange that she should be here by
invitation, and I have no personal acquaintance with her," the hostess
remarked, with a smile; "but such is the case, nevertheless; a card
was sent to her at the request of my brother, who has met her several
times, and who admires her very much. What magnificent diamonds she
wears!"

"Yes; she is said to be worth a great deal of money."

"She must have come in while I was upstairs inquiring about Edith,"
madam observed. "I must find my brother, and be presented to her.
Excuse me--I will see you later."

With a graceful obeisance, madam turned away and went in search of
Emil Correlli.

But, as she went, she wondered if she could ever have seen Mrs.
Stewart before.

The woman's face seemed strangely familiar to her, and yet she could
not remember having met her before.

The sensation was something like those mysterious occurrences which
sometimes make people feel that they are but a repetition of
experiences in a previous state of existence.

The stranger was an undeniably handsome woman. She was more than
handsome, for there was a sweet grace and influence about her every
movement and expression that proclaimed her to be a woman of noble and
lovely character.

She was a woman to be singled out from the multitude on account of the
taste and elegance of her costume, as well as for her great personal
beauty.

"She cannot have less than fifty thousand dollars' worth of diamonds
on her person," murmured Anna Goddard, with a pang of envy, as she
covertly watched her strange guest while she made her way through the
throng in search of her brother.

She met him near the door, he having just come in from the house, to
excuse himself to his sister, after having been to Edith's door for
the sixth time to inquire for her.

His face was pale, his brow gloomy, his eyes heavy with anxiety.

"Well, how is she now?" questioned his sister.

"She has fallen into her third swoon, and the doctor thinks she is in
a very critical state. He says her condition must have been induced by
a tremendous shock of some kind."

"Ah!" e