[CHAPTER XVII.]
Mrs. Markham, little Golden's kind, new friend, was evidently on terms of intimacy with Mrs. Desmond.
Instead of sending her card to the lady and awaiting her appearance in the formal drawing-room, she was at once conducted up stairs to a charming boudoir hung with rose-colored silk and white lace.
The carpet was white velvet strewn with a pattern of pink moss rosebuds, and the chairs and couches were upholstered in a deeper shade of rose-color.
Everything in the room was costly and tasteful, and vases of freshly-cut flowers diffused delicious fragrance through the air.
Little Golden had never before been in such a costly and tasteful room, and she uttered an involuntary low exclamation of surprise and delight at which Mrs. Markham smiled indulgently.
"Does this pretty room surprise you?" she inquired.
"Yes, madam, I have never seen anything so beautiful and costly before," answered the simple child.