d heard much about him, and had wondered
how he had gained possession of such a girl as Emily Wharton. And
now, as she looked about, her wonder was increased. She knew enough
of such people as the Whartons and the Fletchers to be aware that
as a class they are more impregnable, more closely guarded by their
feelings and prejudices against strangers than any other. None keep
their daughters to themselves with greater care, or are less willing
to see their rules of life changed or abolished. And yet this man,
half foreigner half Jew,--and as it now appeared, whole pauper,--had
stepped in and carried off a prize for which such a one as Arthur
Fletcher was contending! The Duchess had never seen Emily but
once,--so as to observe her well,--and had then thought her to be a
very handsome woman. It had been at the garden party at Richmond,
and Lopez had then insisted that his wife should be well dressed. It
would perhaps have been impossible in the whole of that assembly to
find a more beautiful woman than Mrs. Lopez then was,--or one who
carried herself with a finer air. Now when she entered the room in
her deep mourning it would have been difficult to recognise her. Her
face was much thinner, her eyes apparently larger, and her colour
faded. And there had come a settled seriousness on her face which
seemed to rob her of her youth. Arthur Fletcher had declared that as
he saw her now she was more beautiful than ever. But Arthur Fletcher,
in looking at her, saw more than her mere features. To his eyes there
was a tenderness added by her sorrow which had its own attraction
for him. And he was so well versed in every line of her countenance,
that he could see there the old loveliness behind the sorrow; the
loveliness which would come forth again, as bright as ever, if the
sorrow could be removed. But the Duchess, though she remembered the
woman's beauty as she might that of any other lady, now saw nothing
but a thing of woe wrapped in customary widow's weeds. "I hope," she
said, "I am not intruding in coming to you; but I have been anxious
to renew our acquaintance for reasons which I am sure you will
understand."

Emily at the moment hardly knew how to address her august visitor.
Though her father had lived all his life in what is called good
society, he had not consorted much with dukes and duchesses. She
herself had indeed on one occasion been for an hour or two the guest
of this grand lady, but on that occasion she had hardly