The girl bowed and went away, leaving the visitor by herself in the pretty reception-room, for she had been told not to disturb her mistress until she should ring for her.
Mrs. Goddard looked curiously around her, and was impressed with the elegance of everything in the apartment.
Exquisite paintings and engravings graced the delicately tinted walls; choice statuettes, bric-a-brac, and old-world curios of every description, which she knew must have cost a small fortune even in the countries where they were produced, were artistically arranged about the room.
There was also an air of refinement and rare taste in the draperies, carpets, and blending of color, which proclaimed the occupant of the place to be above the average lady in point of culture and appreciation of all that was beautiful.
Impressed with all this, and looking back to her meeting with Mrs. Stewart, on the evening of the ball at Wyoming—remembering her beauty and grace, and the elegance of her costume, madam's heart sank within her, and she seemed to age with every passing moment.
"Oh, to think of it!—to think of it, after all these years! I will not believe it!" she murmured, with white, trembling lips, as she arose and nervously paced the room.
Presently the sound of muffled voices in a room beyond attracted her attention.
She started and bent her ear to listen.
She could catch no word that was spoken, although she could distinguish now a man's and then a woman's tones.
With stealthy movements she glided into the next room, which was even more luxuriously furnished than the one she had left, when she observed that the portieres, draping an arch leading into still another apartment, were closely drawn.