"I have not yet introduced myself. Here is my card."—[page 68.]
"You are naturally much astonished to see me here, and my errand is a delicate one. Since I have seen you, however, I have lost every doubt I may have entertained as to the propriety of my visit. Will you trust me so far as to answer a few simple questions?"
The words of the stranger had put to flight the first idea formed in her mind, namely, that this visit was a mistake. It was intended for her, and now, who had instigated it? She looked up into the face of her visitor and said, with her characteristic frankness of speech:
"Who sent you to me?"
The abruptness of the question caused the stranger to smile.
"One who is the soul of honor and the friend of all womankind," she said, with a soft light in her eyes.
Madeline's eyes still searched her face. "And his name is that," she said, putting the card of Clarence Vaughan upon the table between them.
"Yes; and this reminds me, I have not yet introduced myself. Here is my card."
She placed in the hand of Madeline a delicate bit of cardboard bearing the name, "Olive Girard."