ed fine as lacework; and through this gilded netting
the sun looked hazy, the light wan and yellow, and rifled of its
customary noon glitter.

Following one of the serpentine walks, the governess was approaching
the house, when her attention was attracted by the gleaming surface of
a tomb, and she turned towards the pyramidal deodars that were swaying
slowly in the breeze,--

"Warming their heads in the sun,
Checkering the grass with their shade,"

and photographing fringy images on the shining marble.

A broad circle of violets, blue with bloom, surrounded a sexangular
temple, whose dome was terminated by a mural crown and surmounted by a
cross. The beautifully polished pillars were fluted, and wreathed
with carved ivy that wound up to the richly-sculptured cornices, where
poppies clustered and tossed their leaves along the architrave; and,
in the centre, visible through all the arches, rose an altar, bearing
two angels with fingers on their lips, who guarded an exquisite urn
that was inscribed "_cor cordium_."

Beneath the eastern arch, that directly fronted the sea, were two
steps leading into the mausoleum, and, as Miss Dexter stood within,
she saw that the floor was arranged with slabs for only two tombs
close to the altar, one side of which bore in golden tracery,--

"_Elsie Maclean, 68. Amicus Amicorum._"

Around the base of the urn were scattered some fresh geranium-leaves,
and very near it stood a tall, slender, Venetian glass vase filled
with odorous flowers, which had evidently been gathered and arranged
that day.

For whom had the remaining slab and opposite side of the altar been
reserved?

The heart of the governess seemed for a moment to forget its
functions, then a vague hope made it throb fiercely; and rapidly the
anxious woman directed her steps towards the house, that seemed as
silent as the grave behind her.

The hall door had swung partially open, and, dreading that she might
be refused admittance if she rang the bell, she availed herself of the
lucky accident (which in Elsie's lifetime never happened), and entered
unchallenged and unobserved.

From the parlor issued a rather monotonous and suppressed sound, as of
some one reading aloud, and, advancing a few steps, the governess
stood inside the threshold.

The curtains of the south window were looped back, the blinds thrown
open, and the sickly sunshine poured in, lighting the easel, before
which the mistress of the house had