"I have not ordered any laces at all," said the lady, sharply. "Send the lying old creature away, Agnes."
The trim maid hesitated.
"You ought to look at them, Mrs. Vance," said she, timidly; "such lovely laces I never saw. They are as delicate as sea-foam and very cheap. I expect they are smuggled goods."
"Well, well, let her come up then, but I do not need any of her wares."
Agnes went away and presently reappeared a moment at the door, and ushered in old Haidee with a basket on her arm. The maid then left them together.
"Now, then," said the lady, sharply, "what did you mean by saying I had ordered your laces?"
"Oh! pretty lady, forgive an old woman's lie to the maids for the sake of getting in. I have bargains, lady—lovely laces smuggled through the Custom House without any duty—I can sell them to you much cheaper than the merchants can afford to do."
"Let me see them, then," said the lady, with apparent indifference.
Old Haidee unpacked her wares and exhibited a small but fine assortment of real laces. Her prices were extremely low, and Mrs. Vance, though she pretended indifference, was charmed with their elegance, and the small sum asked by the vender. After a good deal of haggling she selected several yards, and paid for them in gold pieces taken from a silken netted purse through whose interstices gleamed many more pieces of the same kind. Old Haidee's eyes gleamed greedily at the sight.
"Gold-gold!" she muttered, working her claw-like fingers. "Give me the purse, pretty lady."