ing through all ages, is entirely
different from that of the nobility, and that the best results of human
effort had been brought about, not by the nobles, but by civic liberty.

Madame Gunther asked Irma whether she had a picture of her mother.

Irma replied that her father had had a portrait taken of her mother
when in the fullness of her beauty. The picture had been a failure, and
almost seemed as if intended for some one else, and so her father had
ordered it to be destroyed. He would rather have no picture than a
false one.

"That, of itself, is enough to make one honor him for his love of
truth," said Madame Gunther. "Most people are satisfied with what is
false, and keep on saying: 'you can recognize this or that feature,'
until they, at last, persuade themselves that it must once have been a
true likeness."

The conversation now turned upon the fact that Irma had never known her
mother, and Irma's glance often dwelt upon the two daughters sitting
beside their mother.

Madame Gunther said:

"I trust that I've not awakened painful memories, but I regard it as a
duty that we should often think of our beloved dead; calmly and
peacefully, of course. I've always felt thus with regard to my departed
mother, and I hope that, when the time comes, my children may have the
same feelings toward me."

Irma pressed Madame Gunther's hand. All that she said was so full of
truth, so satisfying.

Madame Gunther told her that it was long before she had acquired a
taste for plastic art. Appreciation had, however, gradually dawned upon
her; but it was for what related to the human figure, rather than for
landscapes. The conversation continued in an easy and cheerful vein.
The carriage had long ago been announced; the half-hour which Irma had
meant to stay with Madame Gunther had been prolonged to more than an
hour. At last, she took her leave with sincere requests to repeat her
visit.

CHAPTER VIII.

When Irma returned to the palace, she felt as if coming from another
world--from a life far removed from her own.

Gunther was a deep student of the human heart.

In one respect, Irma's visit had had the result foreseen by him; but
there was some unknown influence at work, and, perhaps, affecting
previously existing conditions. Nothing unless it be the drop that
falls from the cloud, is free from foreign admixture, and it is from
pure thought alone that one can draw definite conclusion