my heart for him all the time."

And Mrs. Browne believed her, and thought she was bearing it bravely,
and paid all the bills, and thought her the most beautiful creature in
her weeds that she had ever seen. And truly she was a lovely little
widow, with just enough pallor in her face to be interesting and show
that her sorrow had robbed her of some of her roses, or, as Lord Hardy
suspected, that she had purposely omitted the roses, when making her
toilet, for the sake of effect.

Lord Hardy knew the lady perfectly, and knew there was not a real thing
about her except, indeed, her hair, which was wavy and abundant still,
and of which she was very proud, often allowing it to fall on her neck,
and always arranging it in the most negligent and girlish manner. Once
her complexion had been her own, but the life she had led was not
conducive to bloom, and much of her bright color and the pearly tint of
her skin was now the work of art, so skillfully done, however, that few
could detect it. Mrs. Browne did not. She never suspected anything, and
took Daisy for what she seemed, and was glad Allen was so fond of her as
in her society he was safe, she said, "and could not help getting kind
of refined and cultivated up."

Daisy wrote to Bessie, telling her how prostrated with grief she was,
and that she should have taken the first ship home if the
Rossiter-Brownes had not insisted that she should stay and see a little
of America.

"But it will not be for long," she wrote. "I shall soon return, and I
send you thirty pounds, absolutely my own. This will last till I am with
you, and then we will contrive together how to live respectably and
happily."

The day after the letter was sent, the Browne party started for
Ridgeville, reaching the Allington station about three in the afternoon
of a lovely July day.

The news of their coming had preceded them, and the Ridge House, which
was a large, imposing mansion, had for days been the scene of much
bustle and excitement, for it was known that an Irish lord was to
accompany the family, and an English lady, who, if not titled, was
connected with some of the best families in England.

There was a great deal of talk and gossip among the neighbors, who had
known the Rossiter-Brownes with out an "e" or a hyphen, when he was
simply Ike and she was Angeline, Miss Lucy Grey's hired girl. But they
were rich people now; they owned the finest house in Ridgeville, and
every room was covered with