It was toward dusk.
In a large, low grate inside a French drawing-room a freshly lighted fire was burning. Curtains of heavy, dark red silk were closely drawn over the long windows.
Before the fire a young girl was seated in a chair beside a Madame Recamier couch upon which an older woman was lying.
They were both apparently dressed for a late dinner, the girl in a costume of dull blue crepe, her companion in what appeared to be a combination of tea gown and dinner dress. The gown was of pale grey silk and chiffon with a lining of rose. The sofa was piled with a number of grey and rose colored cushions.
The drawing-room was a fashionable one revealing wealth and taste in its furnishings and following the usual French design.
The walls were ivory in tone and embellished with garlands of cupids and flowers. The larger rug, which covered the entire floor, was of French tapestry, the furniture of the drawing-room had been copied from a set of the furniture of the great Napoleon, preserved in the Louvre Gallery in Paris.
On the white mantel there was a tall French clock and two beautiful Sevres vases and a small crystal bowl of flowers.
The woman and girl evidently had been talking for some time.
“Well, Bettina,” Mrs. Burton continued, “after all perhaps you are fairly fortunate to have gotten out of last night’s adventure as well as you have! You look a little more rested since your sleep and you insist you have not taken cold. Last night there was nothing which could occur in the most sensational novel, which I did not imagine had happened to you. Yet what did occur was more unexpected and more picturesque than any of my fears!”
Bettina smiled.