ured at last.

"She used to be so well--so bright," said Angela, who also appeared to
have the desire to say something kind and comfortable.

Gordon made no response to this; he only looked at her.

"I hope you are well, Miss Vivian," he broke out at last.

"Very well, thank you."

"Do you live in Paris?"

"We have pitched our tent here for the present."

"Do you like it?"

"I find it no worse than other places."

Gordon appeared to desire to talk with her; but he could think of
nothing to say. Talking with her was a pretext for looking at her;
and Bernard, who thought she had never been so handsome as at that
particular moment, smiling at her troubled ex-lover, could easily
conceive that his friend should desire to prolong this privilege.

"Have you been sitting here long?" Gordon asked, thinking of something
at last.

"Half an hour. We came out to walk, and my mother felt tired. It is time
we should turn homeward," Angela added.

"Yes, I am tired, my daughter. We must take a voiture, if Mr.
Longueville will be so good as to find us one," said Mrs. Vivian.

Bernard, professing great alacrity, looked about him; but he still
lingered near his companions. Gordon had thought of something else.
"Have you been to Baden again?" Bernard heard him ask. But at this
moment Bernard espied at a distance an empty hackney-carriage crawling
up the avenue, and he was obliged to go and signal to it. When he came
back, followed by the vehicle, the two ladies, accompanied by Gordon,
had come to the edge of the pavement. They shook hands with Gordon
before getting into the cab, and Mrs. Vivian exclaimed--

"Be sure you give our love to your dear wife!"

Then the two ladies settled themselves and smiled their adieux, and the
little victoria rumbled away at an easy pace, while Bernard stood with
Gordon, looking after it. They watched it a moment, and then Gordon
turned to his companion. He looked at Bernard for some moments intently,
with a singular expression.

"It is strange for me to see her!" he said, presently.

"I hope it is not altogether disagreeable," Bernard answered smiling.

"She is delightfully handsome," Gordon went on.

"She is a beautiful woman."

"And the strange thing is that she strikes me now so differently,"
Gordon continued. "I used to think her so mysterious--so ambiguous. She
seems to be now so simple."

"Ah," said Bernard, laughing, "that's an improvement!"

"So simple and so good!" Gordon