door upon him.

"Take off that dress!" she abruptly commanded of Mona.

Deeply wounded by her ungracious tone, as well as indignant at what had
just occurred, the fair girl quickly divested herself of the costly
apparel, and then, wishing the woman a quiet good-night, withdrew to
her own room.

But nothing could make her very unhappy with the glad refrain that was
continually ringing in her heart:

"Ray is coming! I shall see him!" she kept saying over and over. All
other emotions were swallowed up in the joy of this, and she was soon
sleeping the sweet, restful sleep of youth and dreaming of the one she
loved.

But Mrs. Montague was terribly excited when she found herself alone.

"I should never have thought of it if Louis had not spoken, I was so
absorbed in the costume," she muttered, as she stood in the middle of the
floor and tried to compose herself. "I could almost swear that she was
Mona come back to life. She looked almost exactly as she did that night
in Paris--shall I ever forget it?--when I _told_ her, and she drew
herself up in that proud way; and _she_ had a garnet dress on, too.
She _does_ look wonderfully like that picture! Louis was quick to see it,
and I will have it destroyed when I return to New York. I can't imagine
why I have kept it all these years. Ugh! I feel almost as if I had seen a
ghost."

She shook herself, as if to dispel these uncanny thoughts, and then
disrobing, retired to rest.

Sunday was a lovely day--more mild and spring-like even than the previous
ones had been.

Some of the guests at Hazeldean went to Rhinebeck to attend the morning
service, Mr. Palmer and Mrs. Montague among the number; but most of them
remained within doors until evening, when Mr. Wellington, their host,
requested, as a favor, that all would attend a special service at one of
the village churches, where a college friend was to preach, and he wished
to give him as large an audience as possible. He also hinted, with a
gleam of mischief in his eyes, that they would do well to take their
pocket-books along, as a collection would be taken to help to pay for a
new organ which the society had just purchased.

It was a glorious evening, and, everybody appearing to partake of the
enthusiasm of the host, the whole party set out to walk to the church.

No one thought of asking Mona to go, and thus the young girl was left
entirely alone in the house, except for the servants, who were by
themselves in the base