osition, she was deeply
wounded and made to realize, as she never yet had done, that Mrs.
Richmond Montague's seamstress would henceforth be regarded as a very
different person from Miss Mona Montague, the heiress and a petted beauty
in society.

She did not care to go out shopping so much after that; but when obliged
to do so she avoided as much as possible those places where she would be
liable to meet old acquaintances.

She would take her airing after lunch in the quiet streets of the
neighborhood, and then return to her tasks in the sewing-room.

She was not quite so lonely after a dressmaker came to do some fitting
for Mrs. Montague, for the woman was kind and sociable, and, becoming
interested in the beautiful sewing-girl, seemed to try to make the time
pass pleasantly to her, and was a great help to her about her work.

Mona often wondered how Mrs. Montague would feel if she should know who
she was. Sometimes she was almost inclined to think that she did suspect
the truth, for she often found her regarding her with a curious and
intent look. It occurred to her that the woman might possibly have known
her mother, and noticed her resemblance to her, for Mr. Dinsmore had told
her that she looked very much like her.

One day Mona was standing close beside her, while she tried on a fichu
which she had been fixing for her to wear that evening, when the woman
broke out abruptly, while she scanned her face intently:

"For whom are you in mourning, Ruth?"

Mona did not know just how to reply to this direct question; but after an
instant's reflection she said:

"The dearest friend I had in the world. Do you not remember, Mrs.
Montague, that I told you I was an orphan? I am utterly friendless."

Mrs. Montague regarded her with a peculiar look for a moment, but she did
not pursue the subject, and Mona was greatly relieved.

"If she knew my mother," she told herself, "and has discovered my
resemblance to her--if she knew Uncle Walter, and I had told her I was
in mourning for him--she would have known at once who I am."

It was very evident that her employer was pleased with her work, for she
frequently complimented her upon her neatly finished seams, while the
dressmaker asserted that she had seldom had one so young to work with
her who was so efficient.

On the whole she was kindly treated; she was in a pleasant and luxurious
home, although in the capacity of a servant; her wages were fair, and for
the present