ke fire, while her head, her feet, and her
hands were ice cold. Her lips were parched with a terrible thirst.

"I must go away from here," she muttered. "If I am going to die, let it
be out in the grounds, with my face pressed close to the cold earth,
that is not more cold to me than the false heart of the man to whom I
have given my love beyond recall."

Like one whose sight had suddenly grown dim, Bernardine groped her way
from the magnificent _boudoir_ out into the corridor, her one thought
being to reach her own apartment, secure her bonnet and cloak, and get
out of the house. She had scarcely reached the first turn in the
corridor, ere she came face to face with a woman robed in costly satin,
and all ablaze with diamonds, who was standing quite still and looking
about her in puzzled wonder.

"I--I beg your pardon, miss," said the stranger, addressing Bernardine.
"I am a bit turned around in this labyrinth of corridors."

What was there in that voice that caused Bernardine to forget her own
sorrows for an instant, and with a gasp peer into the face looking up
into her own?

The effect of Bernardine's presence, as the girl turned her head and the
light of the hanging-lamp fell full upon it, was quite as electrifying
to the strange lady.

"Bernardine Moore!" she gasped in a high, shrill voice that was almost
hysterical. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is this some strange coincidence,
some chance resemblance, or are you Bernardine Moore, whom I have
searched the whole earth over to find?"

At the first word that fell from her excited lips, Bernardine recognized
Miss Rogers.

"Yes," she answered, mechanically, "I am Bernardine Moore, and you are
Miss Rogers. But--but how came you here, and in such fine dress and
magnificent jewels? You, whom I knew to be as poor as ourselves, when
you shared the humble tenement home with my father and me!"

Miss Rogers laughed very softly.

"I can well understand your bewilderment over such a Cinderella-like
mystery. The solution of it is very plain, however. But before I answer
your question, my dear Bernardine, I must ask what _you_ are doing
beneath this roof?"

"I am Mrs. Gardiner's paid companion," responded Bernardine, huskily.

"And I am Mrs. Gardiner's guest, surprising as that may seem. But let us
step into some quiet nook where we can seat ourselves and talk without
interruption," said Miss Rogers. "I have much to ask you about, and much
to tell you."

"Will you c