eat
Parisian _ateliers_, and the few old paste ornaments which were the only
jewels she possessed, charming as they were, seemed dim and scant among
the crowns and constellations of diamonds that surrounded her. Her pride
rebelled against this envy, but could not conquer it.

More gnawing pangs, however, assailed her presently, the pangs of
hunger; and no one offered to take her in to supper. The idea of taking
herself in was revolting; she preferred starvation. But where could
Uncle John have hidden himself? She sought the elderly truant with all
the suppressed annoyance of a chaperon seeking an inconsiderate flirt of
a girl. And it happened that a spirit in her feet led her to the door of
a small room in which Milly and Lady Augusta had been wont to transact
their business. A curious feeling of familiarity, of physical habit,
caused her to open the big mahogany door. There was no air of public
festivity about the room, which was furnished with a substantial, almost
shabby masculine comfort. But oh, tantalizing spectacle! Under the
illumination of a tall, crimson-shaded, standard lamp, stood a little,
white-covered table, reminding her irresistibly of a little table in a
fairy story, which the due incantation causes to rise out of the ground.
A small silver-gilt tureen of soup smoked upon it and a little pile of
delicate rolls lay beside the plate set for one. But alas! she might
not, like the favored girl in the fairy story, proceed without ceremony
to satisfy her hunger at the mysterious little table.

A door immediately opposite that of the small sitting-room opened
noiselessly, and a young man entered with a light, quick step. He saw
Mildred, but for a second or so she did not see him. He was at her side
when she looked around and their eyes met. They had never seen each
other before, but at that meeting of the eyes a curious feeling, such as
two Europeans might experience, meeting in the heart of some dark
continent, affected them both.

There was something picturesque about the young man's appearance, in
spite of the impeccable cut and finish of his dress-suit and the waxed
ends of his small blond mustache. His hair was of a ruddy nut-brown
color, and had a wave in it; his bright hazel eyes seemed exactly to
match it. His face had a fine warm pallor, and his under lip, which with
his chin was somewhat thrust forward, was redder than the lip of a
child. It was perhaps this noticeable coloring and something in hi