a silly thing to do with me, but it had the advantage that it
made me acquainted with Claire de Bellegarde. She was younger than I
but we became fast friends. I took a tremendous fancy to her, and she
returned my passion as far as she could. They kept such a tight rein on
her that she could do very little, and when I left the convent she had
to give me up. I was not of her monde; I am not now, either, but we
sometimes meet. They are terrible people--her monde; all mounted upon
stilts a mile high, and with pedigrees long in proportion. It is the
skim of the milk of the old noblesse. Do you know what a Legitimist
is, or an Ultramontane? Go into Madame de Cintre's drawing-room
some afternoon, at five o'clock, and you will see the best preserved
specimens. I say go, but no one is admitted who can't show his fifty
quarterings."

"And this is the lady you propose to me to marry?" asked Newman. "A lady
I can't even approach?"

"But you said just now that you recognized no obstacles."

Newman looked at Mrs. Tristram a while, stroking his mustache. "Is she a
beauty?" he demanded.

"No."

"Oh, then it's no use--"

"She is not a beauty, but she is beautiful, two very different things. A
beauty has no faults in her face, the face of a beautiful woman may have
faults that only deepen its charm."

"I remember Madame de Cintre, now," said Tristram. "She is as plain as a
pike-staff. A man wouldn't look at her twice."

"In saying that HE would not look at her twice, my husband sufficiently
describes her," Mrs. Tristram rejoined.

"Is she good; is she clever?" Newman asked.

"She is perfect! I won't say more than that. When you are praising
a person to another who is to know her, it is bad policy to go into
details. I won't exaggerate. I simply recommend her. Among all women I
have known she stands alone; she is of a different clay."

"I should like to see her," said Newman, simply.

"I will try to manage it. The only way will be to invite her to dinner.
I have never invited her before, and I don't know that she will come.
Her old feudal countess of a mother rules the family with an iron hand,
and allows her to have no friends but of her own choosing, and to visit
only in a certain sacred circle. But I can at least ask her."

At this moment Mrs. Tristram was interrupted; a servant stepped out upon
the balcony and announced that there were visitors in the drawing-room.
When Newman's hostess had gone in to receive her frien