"Miss Madeline Payne!"
Then she stepped back, and a vision appeared before them which struck them dumb and motionless with surprise.
Across the threshold swept a young lady, richly robed in trailing silk and velvet and fur; with a face fair as a star-flower, haughty as the face of any duchess; with amber eyes that gazed upon them contemptuously, masterfully, fearlessly; with wave upon wave of golden brown hair, clustering about the temples and snowy neck; and with scarlet lips half parted in a scornful smile.
She swept the length of the room with matchless grace and self-possession, and pausing before the astonished group, said, in a voice clear as the chime of silver bells:
"Good-evening, ladies and gentlemen! I believe I have not the honor of knowing—ah, yes, this is Miss Arthur; Aunt Ellen, how do you do?"
There are some scenes that beggar description, and this was such an one.
"Miss Madeline Payne!"—[page 346.]