dy Falconer, 'that she had just
returned from Cintra when I met her.'

'I have always heard that Cintra is a most lovely place,' said Mr.
Semple conversationally; 'and Mrs. Ogilvie had a peculiar love for
beautiful things.'

'Cintra is beautiful, and Lisbon itself is a particularly fine town,'
assented Lady Falconer.

'Mrs. Ogilvie was not there when you knew her?'

Lawyers are inquisitive by profession, and Mr. Semple made his
inquiries with easy tact; his manner was kind and pleasant, and
betrayed so much real feeling for his clients that Lady Falconer was
tempted to continue the subject of conversation in which he seemed so
deeply interested.

'I wish,' she said cordially, 'that I could remember more details that
might be of interest or of use to you. My husband and I have spent a
most varied life, in which many interesting experiences have, alas!
been almost forgotten; but we were both considerably impressed by Mrs.
Ogilvie's vivid personality and her very real charm. These made much
more impression on me than anything that she told us about her
journeys. She was fond of travelling by sea, I remember, and I
perfectly well recollect her telling my husband and me that she had
come by ship to Lisbon when she first came to travel in Spain for her
health.'

'Yes, I remember hearing that,' said Mr. Semple. 'Indeed, I believe
that we took her passage for her, and in going over her papers the
other day we came across two letters which she had written home from
the ship.'

'Talking of that,' said Lady Falconer, 'I wonder if the maid who was
with her during the time I was there could be of service to you? I
often think a maid must know her mistress with even a greater degree of
intimacy than many of her friends, and I remember it was a particularly
nice Spanish woman whose services she lent me when I was ill.'

Mr. Semple would like to know if Lady Falconer remembered whether the
woman had come out from England with Mrs. Ogilvie.

'I am afraid I cannot,' said Lady Falconer. 'But stop! Yes, I can.
The maid who came out from England with Mrs. Ogilvie left her because
she objected to the sea-voyage. It seems that the poor thing was so
ill that she never appeared the whole time, and as soon as the ship
touched port she went straight back to England by land. I remember it
quite well now, because that was a particularly stormy winter, with
dreadful gales; and when my illness was at its worst it was another
ver