r
profile plainly all through the service, but the dull impassive
expression of the countenance that she had turned upon me gave me a
sensation of pain; she looked like a person who had experienced some
great trouble or undergone some terrible illness. I could not make up
my mind which it could be.

The other lady was much older, and had no claims to beauty. I could see
her face plainly, for she looked round once or twice as though she were
expecting some one.

She must have been over thirty, and had rather a singular face; it was
thin, dark-complexioned, and very sallow; she was a stylish-looking
woman, but her appearance did not interest me. To my surprise, just as
the service commenced, Mr. Hamilton came in and joined them. So these
must be the ladies from Gladwyn, I thought. That beautiful pale girl must
be his sister Gladys, and the other one Miss Darrell.

I tried to keep my attention to my own devotions, but every now and
then my eyes would stray to the lovely face before me. Mr. Hamilton's
behaviour was irreproachable. I could hear his voice following all the
responses, and he sang the hymns very heartily.

I think he knew I was behind him, for he handed me a hymn-book, with a
slight smile, when I was offering to share mine with a young woman. Miss
Darrell gave me a curiously penetrating look when she came out that did
not quite please me, but the girl who followed her did not seem to notice
my presence. I sat still in my place for a minute, as I did not wish to
encounter them in the porch. I had lingered so long that the congregation
had quite dispersed when I got out, but, to my surprise, I could see the
three walking very slowly down the road. Could they have been waiting for
me? I wondered; but I dismissed this idea as absurd.

But I could not forget the face that had so interested me; and when I
encountered Uncle Max on his way to the children's service I questioned
him at once about the two ladies.

'Yes, you are right, Ursula,' he said, a little absently. 'The one with
fair hair was Miss Gladys: her cousin, Miss Darrell, sat by Hamilton.'

'But you never told me how beautiful she was,' I replied, in rather
an injured voice. 'She has a perfect face, only it is so worn and
unhappy-looking.'

'You must not keep me,' observed Max hurriedly; 'Miss Darrell wants to
speak to me before service.' And he rushed off, leaving me standing in
the middle of the path rather wondering at his abruptness, for the b