behind the tapestry came a sound, faintly, as of some one moving.
She smiled and there was a quivering of the lips. Then, in a low but
clear voice, she said:

"_Petit pere_"

[Illustration]

XV

REVELATIONS

The rustle of a sudden movement--and an exclamation half
suppressed--came from within the chamber. Then the tapestry was pushed
aside.

The Princess, at sight of the figure that emerged, took a backward step,
her smile of welcome supplanted by a look of wonder. Another woman stood
before her, also pausing in surprise, a hand still holding the tapestry.
This woman was young and slight of figure, erect, dark-haired, and
sunburned. In a single glance the quick eye of the Princess took in a
number of details. She noticed that the stranger wore a jacket so faded
that no trace of its original color remained; that the skirt, equally
faded, was also stained and patched. But to the critical Parisian it was
obvious that these garments, although threadbare, frayed, and
weather-beaten, fitted extremely well.

Now, while the Princess was the more surprised of the two, the girl in
the faded garments experienced a greater bewilderment. For this visitor
bore a startling resemblance to the miniature,--the wife whose grave was
among the pines. And Elinor stared, as if half awake, at the round face,
the drooping eyes, and the very familiar features of this sudden guest.
Even the arrangement of the hair was unchanged, and the infantile mouth
appeared exactly as depicted in the little portrait that hung beside
her. Had this portrait come to life and stood near its own chair, the
effect would have been the same.

But the lady from Paris was the first to find her voice. In French, with
somewhat frigid politeness, she said:

"Pardon me, Mademoiselle; I expected to find another person here."

Also in French the girl replied:

"Madame is the daughter, perhaps, of the gentleman who lived here?"

The Princess, with her head, made a slight affirmative movement. And she
frowned more from anxiety than resentment as she asked: "You say
_lived_ here. Does he not live here now?"

And she read in the face before her, from its sympathy and sadness, the
answer she dreaded.

Elinor, before replying, came nearer to the table. "Do you speak
English?"

The Princess nodded, and seated herself in the chair of the miniature,
and with clasped hands and a pale face, whispered:

"He is--dead?"

Elinor took the opposite chair. "May