e them?"

"No; I saw only herself," was the preoccupied response.

"Aha! I see you are clean gone," was the laughing rejoinder of Mr.
Appleton.

The lady referred to was indeed a strangely attractive person. She was
rather above the medium height, straight as an arrow, with a perfectly
molded figure, although it was somewhat inclined to _embonpoint_,
while her bearing was wonderfully easy and graceful. Her complexion was
exquisitely fair, her features round, yet clearly cut and regular. She
had lovely eyes of blue, with a fringe of decided, yet not unbecoming
red upon their white lids, while her hair was also a rich but striking
red, and was worn short, and curled about; her fair forehead and down
around her alabaster neck in bewitching natural rings.

She was apparently about twenty-five or twenty-eight years of age, with
all the strength and _verve_ of perfect health in her movements. She was
dressed wholly in black, which served but to enhance her fairness, while
in her ears and at her throat she wore peculiar ornaments shaped like
small crescents, studded with diamonds, remarkable for their purity
and brilliancy.

For several days Mr. Cutler and Mr. Appleton sat at the same table, and
were quietly observant of this lovely woman.

She came and went, apparently unconscious of their notice or admiration,
was gently dignified in her bearing and modest in her deportment, and the
two gentlemen became more and more interested in her.

Upon inquiring, they learned that she was a young widow--a Mrs. Bently,
whose husband had recently died very suddenly. He was supposed to have
been very wealthy, but, there being no children, there was some trouble
about the settlement of the property, and she was boarding in the city
until matters should be adjusted, when she contemplated going abroad.

She seemed to be an entire stranger to every one, and very much alone,
save for the companionship of a maid, by whom she was always attended,
except at meal-time. Mr. Appleton was called from the city about ten days
after his attention was first called to her, but his friend, Mr. Cutler,
was still a guest at the hotel, and before the expiration of another week
he had managed to make the acquaintance of the fascinating widow.

The more he saw of her the more deeply interested he became, until he
began to realize that his interest was fast merging into a sentiment of a
more tender nature.

Mr. Cutler was an energetic young broker, an