ed away from the picture as she spoke; but presently, as if drawn
by it, she returned to it.

"The picture interests you?" said Mrs. Dexter, with a smile. "That is
always the way with us women, my dear. It is always the wild and wicked
men who attract us."

"Oh, but that's a libel, surely," said Celia. "No; I think you are
right. But how foolish of us, if it is true."

She turned away and went towards the great fireplace where the logs were
now burning; but after a moment or two, as she stood with her foot on
the fender, she looked again over her shoulder at the picture.

"It is very strange," she said, "but I have a curious feeling that I
have seen someone very like--no, not very like, but bearing a faint
likeness to that portrait."

"Yes, my dear? One often has that feeling when looking at a portrait.
Can't you remember who it was?"

"No," said Celia, "I've been trying to think; but I can't remember ever
meeting anyone resembling that face. I suppose it is only my fancy."

"I dare say," assented Mrs. Dexter. "You will dine at the usual hour,
eight o'clock, I suppose? I am going to have your dinner served in the
little room behind the library. You will not feel so lonely as you would
in the big dining-room; but, of course, if you prefer----"

"What, sit there all by myself, in that great big room! I should die of
fright. I should feel as if I had been wrecked on a desert island. Oh,
the little room, please, by all means."

CHAPTER IX

Celia was awakened the next morning by the singing of the birds. For a
few minutes she was confused by her strangely luxurious surroundings;
but she soon realized her good fortune, and she leapt out of bed, ran to
the window, and peeped out on the wonderful view. She might have stood
openly at the window, for no building, no human being were in sight. It
seemed to her that she was the only person in that vast solitude of
umbrageous park and wide-stretching heath.

Immediately beneath her lay the velvet lawns of the splendid gardens;
they were irresistible; she had her bath and dressed quickly, and, to
the amazement of the housemaids who were at work in the hall, went out
bare-headed. She felt as if every moment in which she was not enjoying
this wonderful new experience of hers were a lost one; and she wandered
about, stopping occasionally to examine the noble facade of the house, a
quaint sundial, an antique fountain of bronze, some particularly
tasteful arrangement