She stole a searching glance at the woman's face, only to find her great, luminous eyes fastened upon her with an equally intent gaze.
"Ah!" and with this voiceless ejaculation and a great inward start, some long dormant memory seemed suddenly to have been aroused within her.
There was an instant of awkwardness; then madam, who seldom allowed anything to disturb her self-possession, remarked:
"I am sorry, Mrs. Stewart, that you did not arrive earlier to witness our little play."
But while she was giving utterance to this polite regret, she was saying to herself:
"Yes, there certainly is a look about her that reminds me of—Ugh! She may possibly be a relative, or the resemblance may be merely a coincidence. All the same, I shall not like her any the better for recalling that horror to me."
"Thank you," Mrs. Stewart replied; "no doubt I should have enjoyed it, especially as, I am told, it was original with you and terminated in a real and very pretty wedding."
"Yes; my brother finds that he must leave the city earlier than he anticipated; and, as he was anxious to take his bride with him, he chose this opportunity to celebrate his marriage, and to introduce his wife to our friends."
"Ah! I did not even know that Monsieur Correlli was contemplating matrimony. Who is the favored lady of his choice?" Mrs. Stewart inquired.
"A Miss Edith Allen."