The abruptness of this singular introduction seemed to take the man completely by surprise, and he could only bow low in acknowledgment and hasten from the room, leaving Iris—or Maggie Gordon, as our heroine had called herself—white and trembling like one who had stood in the presence of some spirit of darkness.
“I am afraid! Oh, so horribly afraid,” she whispered, and crouched by the sick woman’s bedside, hiding her face in the bedclothes, and trembling in every limb.
CHAPTER XLVI.
THE UNFORGOTTEN FACE.
“I called to see your dressmaker this evening, Clara, and she promises to have your work completed to-morrow, without fail, and—but by the way, my dear, I am not quite certain that the young girl will be able to keep her promise. I caught a glimpse of her invalid mother, and it is my belief that the poor woman will not live till morning. I suppose, in that case, the other young lady will be obliged to finish the work for you.”
The speaker was Mr. Charles Broughton, and the woman he addressed Mrs. Clara Neville, a haughty, handsome widow of thirty, and Mr. Broughton’s affianced wife.
The fair widow would never have owned to herself that she could harbor the slightest feeling of jealousy toward such an insignificant personage as a dressmaker’s associate; but there was something in Mr. Broughton’s expression and manner of speaking of that other lady that brought an angry glitter to the black eyes of his betrothed.
“Who is the person you are speaking of? I never had the pleasure of meeting any other sewing woman in Jenny’s home. I have always understood that Jenny Mason was without friends or connections in this country.”
“I saw a face in Jenny Mason’s home to-night that brought back——”
He did not finish the sentence, but threw his hands suddenly over his face, shivering in the warmth and luxury of the cozy apartment in which he sat, as if he had been facing a wintry blast.
“Let me finish the sentence for you, Mr. Broughton; the face you saw to-night brought back the memory of some woman you have loved in the past. What a pity that the possessor of this face should be only a working girl.”