vertisement of a new soap, and she was reading it mechanically when
the door was opened by a tall man-servant who stood against the
background of a stately hall, whose rich furnishings were revealed by
the softened light that came through the stained glass windows.
Christine was closely veiled, and coming out of the sunshine it all
seemed obscure and dim. She asked if Mrs. Noel was at home, and when the
man said yes, and ushered her in she desired him to say to Mrs. Noel
that the lady with whom she had an appointment was come.

Then she sat down in the great drawing-room and waited. The silence was
intense. She seemed to have shrunk to a very small size as she sat in
the midst of all this high-pitched, broad-proportioned stateliness. As
her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness the objects about her seemed
to come out, one by one--beautiful pictures, graceful statues, rich
draperies and delicate, fine ornaments of many kinds. A carriage rolled
by outside, one of the horses slipping on the thin coat of ice with
which the shady side of the street was covered. The driver jerked him up
sharply, with a smothered exclamation, and went on. As the sound of
wheels died away she could hear a street band far off, playing a popular
air. Then that too ceased and the silence without was as profound as the
silence within. Christine felt precisely as if she were dreaming. It
seemed to her hours that she had waited here, though she knew it was
only a very few minutes, before the servant returned. Mrs. Noel
requested that she would be kind enough to come up-stairs, he said.

Christine followed him silently up the great staircase, and was ushered
into a room near its head. She heard the door closed behind her, and saw
a small, slight figure, dressed in black, standing opposite to her.

"Good-morning. Excuse my asking you to come up-stairs," a clear, refined
voice began; but suddenly it broke off, and perfect silence followed,
and the eyes of the two women met. Christine was very pale, and those
beautiful eyes of hers had dark rings around them, but they were
marvellously clear and true, and, above all, they were eloquent with
sorrow.

The elder woman advanced to her and took her hand.

"Oh, my child, how you must have suffered!" she said.

"Ah, you know what it is. You have suffered, too. We shall understand
each other better for that."

"My dear, I seem to understand it all. Don't be unhappy. You need have
no fear of me. If you lov