Lady Hope, as she stood before the mirror in her
dressing-room, and unwound the black lace from her head.

She was correct. What with fatigue, and the black shadows flung by her
shawl, the best friends of this proud woman would have recognized her
with difficulty.

She turned for her husband's answer, but found that he had left her at
the door. All rest was broken up for her now; in fact, it was almost
morning; so she began to pace the room to and fro, thinking, with
exultation, of the honors and wealth that had poured in upon her family
by that gentle old lady's death.

Meantime Lord Hope had gone back to the death-chamber, where Mrs. Yates
and the two young ladies were waiting.

The old woman arose from her knees when he came in.

"That which I have to say, Lord Hope, relates to you, first of all, now
that my dear old mistress is gone. When the first Lady Hope came to
America, her little girl, then between two and three years of age, was
placed in my son's family, and under my charge, as her mother had been
when a child. She had reasons, which you will understand, for wishing
the child to pass as the daughter of my son; so we gave her his name,
and she was known everywhere as my grandchild.

"We had another little girl, about the same age, the daughter of Mrs.
Brown, an actress; fair, like your child, and very pretty. This child,
Caroline Brown, was almost given to us; for, after the first year, we
never saw her mother, or received anything from her. One night I
received a note asking me to come down to one of the theatres, and meet
a person who had business with me. There was no name to the note; but I
supposed it must be from Mrs. Brown, and went. But no person was there
to meet me, and I went home disappointed. That night Lady Hope died."

Lord Hope, who had been anxious and restless, drew a deep breath; for he
understood, by the slow caution of the old woman's speech, that she
meant to reveal nothing which his anxious and listening daughter might
not hear.

"My lady left a letter behind her, with some money, and the Carset
diamonds, which she charged me to deliver, with my own hands, here at
the castle.

"She had fears about her daughter--anxieties, which I need not
explain--and besought me to keep the little girl; to educate her, and
conceal her identity until she was eighteen years old, when I, or my
son, should take her back to England, and allow her to choose her own
way of life.

"I had talked th