THE pREGON SUNDAY -JOURNAL FORI LAND, SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 6, 1910
. 4
fZ772&6&C: k j; ;
YSOPSIS: Beautiful and dainty Mrs.
Fesey-Hilton and her doctor husband
m dinner at the Italian em
s
bassy on account of a fire. Two peoplea
woman and a child-were nearly burned in a
top-floor room, and the doctor stayed to res
cue them. The ambassador is vividly inter-
' ested to hear that the rescued people were an
Italian nurse and aristocratic child, tilth
papers in their possession bearing the name of
Crescenzi. .
. The scene changes to the Pans-Rouen
express, bearing Honor Molyneux toward
Rouen. She would have missed her change at
I Rouen if an English passenger had not helped
J her by compelling mercenary porters w auena
to her. Un the way to Kome tne nam stows
down and two mysterious beings dressed as
hnonks climb furtively into the carriage. Later
the train slows again, and the monks spring
out and disappear. After she leaves the train
at Rome the gentleman who helped her at
Rouen:' runs after her and puts a ring in her
hand, saying she haJ left it in the carriage.
Arrived at her godmother's house, she finds
that Signora Montressor has met' with an
accident and has died in the hospital. A ber-
r&ar ri'hn irirt in rob her in a lane near the
j Colosseum falls on his knees when he sees the
I ring, calling Iter 'most gracious, most exaitea
signorina," and asking her forgiveness. Meet
ing the man who befriended her in the train,
she tells him the story of the ring. She tells
j htm, too, that she has just seen a face pass in
a carriage very much like that of one of the
"monks" but the fate in the carriage was
that of a woman. The new friend's name is
Alaric Vaughan.
The ring on Honor's finger has been
noticed by strangers once or twice with star
tled interest. One of them, Prince Caesar
Crescenzi, asked to have the ring in his hand
a moment,' but Vaughan made , her refuse,
much; to the prince's wrath.
(CONTINUED FROM LAST 8UNDAT.)
CHAPTER XV
(Continued.)
ITHOUT waiting for her re
ply, lie aomehow placed
Jilmaelf between her and
the prince, and swept her
away with him Into thi
room they had lately left.
Honor felt half carried off
her feet and looked around
vaguely, as she found her
self once more In the chat
tering mob. "What pic
ture?" she asked, bewil
dered. "I don't remember
any I specially wanted to
look at."
"Oh, that one any one
It doesn't matter. In point
of fact, you needn't look at
any. I only wanted to rid
you of that peralatent ass
out there. I should have
had to kick him In another
minute, if he had kept on
annoying you. I thought
this was the shorter plan."
"But why why wouldn't
you let me give him the
ring to look at?"
Her "let me" sounded
sweet in Vaughan' ear. It
waa as If she conceded him
a right to control and guide
her actions. There is noth-
j Ing more pleasantly tickling to a man's Imagination when
j ni be begins to be in love. ,w "
I n .Becau,e he llgd n0 rKht to ask It. Why could he
, ,s not look at it on your hand? He could see it well
enough. That fellow is a bounder, for all his long de
li, eeent and famous name. I've heard queer things about
Mm. And vou've onlv to look at him to want to knock
l"f him down. That flabby face of his. and the eyes he
it-il keeps half (shut, and his silky ways. Pah! 1 hate the
very atr lies been breathing, l nan to get you out or
' It, or I should have done something I'd better not.""
"But he only wanted the ring for an Instant."
"I don't know what he wanted, but I know he
Wasn't going to have It. What business had the bruie
to ask any favor from you? He had no right to see
the ring-he confessed as much himself, when he said
b; he had not lost It only ownership would have given
him any claim. As to Its being an Imitation of any
.thlng I'll bet that was all my grandmother! He only
wanted to get hold of the thing."
' ' "But you don't imagine he would not have given It
back!" cried Honor shocked. "I don't think you ought
to suggest that! He Is a gentleman It would have
been perfectly safe with him. I don't think you should
: hint things against a person Just because you don't
( like them. I didn't rare for him myself."
"That's all right!" said Vaughan, with heartiness
"I hope you don't! Well, I'd rather not tell you all
(. I've heard whispered about Prince Caesar !r'eseenl
since I've been about Rome, but none of ft was partic
ularly s;ood. He's a gambler and a "bad hat' and
tome people ilnt he's mixed up with secret societies
That's the White party at the Quirinal. of course. The
-Blacks don't breathe a word of such enormities when
.- a cardinal's nephew Is concerned."
"Is he a cardinal's nephew?" Honor was rather
wrri.
yes. and a pretty powerful cardinal.
inn TUa..
, . , i uiib u ( mr ii urt,.- iM-rn pdjie wneu jeo a i died
''He would, too, I fancy, only the rival set kept him
"'out at any cost. It's about the oldest famliv in Home
- you Know people with no end of history. They claim"
' descent from the Koman Crescentlus straight down
from Auarustus Caesar's time Tbero hav v, .
TOW
fern
! V
popes among them already. T believe they are keen
j to have another, and they may mill. 1f the cardinal
1 outlives the present man at the Vatican. Anvway
)" fhelr very name spells power, and wealth, and glorv
i t. This man is' the last of the line worse luck for it
4 lle'n not a very pretty end to the name."
( 4 ' "jut still I do not understand what he could hav
done to the ring, if I had let him have It," persisted
j" Honor seriously.
j Vaughan laughed almost tenderlv. A laugh can be
i half a caress sometimes. "I wouldn't put It past him
. a they say in the North, not to give It vou back
Iris again. Things get dropped at windows, or made away
'. With aotnehow. I don't believe a word of his rubbish
about an imitation, if it' a vainuhie OD i.
v fJon Caesar would have had a haul most likely to nav
jf.hjs gambling debts." ".eiy, io pay
w. Honor cut him short with horrified proteit "You
ahould not say things like that! Kor shame'"
,,"..?uf Vaughan only laughed once more. "Keen vour
. faith in humanity " he said gently. "Even in gambling
,i humanity. I would not snake II for worlds " u"g
,, Through the doorway behind them Honor caujrht a
;,, glimpse at that moment of Prince Caesur . i
, T,head of other people, trying to" fight bis way back to
iiT-w, Km uie tiuwu ujwcftcu ine narrow way and
kept him back. He wag glaring at Vaughan and her
.aelf, with a scowl that a little startled her Hls red
irUpa drawn back from his white teeth gave him the
, look 'of a handsome wolf snarling and his" eyes wer
HinP'ea8ant I" thlr eraftv look.
J 4 It Was only a minute then the crowd surged and
;''ne'ost tight of him, but she felt as if a cold wind
bad blown thr.mg'i the room. "Shall we get out of
'4',11 this and go"' she aaked. "It is so crowded and air
, less. I think we have seen all we can manage to see "
- Vaughan a Merited with willingness. They wert
1 down, the little worn outside staircase together, under
the swinging vines of the creeper, and out Into tiie
veun-bathed street As was growing his custom he
. walked home to her door with her, and they lingered
on tnelr Journey througli the city. Honor was glad to
. have his company, for life in the flat had grown very
dull indeed. As for Vaughan. he would have wished
4 the, walk twice aa long, tad, had he dared, would have
asked her to lengthen It. Hut they were as yet too
pew friends for him to dare requests.
The old woman who sold cherries at the corner on
the little barrow with a striped linen cover fiutterlnr
. its tatter over two broken sticks that gave her a
crap of ahade, looked after them a they paasad. and
called out. "Huona Sera!" after Honor, who never
passed her without a friendly word. "Aye, aye, they
make a pretty couple!" she croaked to her neighbor
sitting at hsr door, with a smiling fat bambino on
her fip. "Like should wed with like, and they are both
foreigners the good Ood pity their misfortune so to
be." The neighbor laughed, and the bambino crowed
snd sprang, bis round black eyes shining like big
beads. -
"A letter for vou, signorina," railed out the porters
wife shrilly, aa Honor was going In through the gloomy
courtyard on her way to the stairs. The porters wife
was busy shredding beans into long, thin slivers, and
she held a pan full of them on ber knee. They ran
over Into her ample cotton-clad lap In a green stream,
and now and then she clutched a handful sharply,
and thrust them back Into the earthenware bowl with
Its yellow and green stripes
"For me?" Honor flushed with surprise and eager
ness. It must surely bo the letter from Mrs. Montres
sor' daughter in India she had waited for so long. It
would tell her when she was to be relieved from her
care of the things In the fiat here, and would be free
to lesve Home. Somehow, she did not want so much
to go now as she thought she would have done at first.
If there came any answer to that advertisement shu
WHS?! ! I W &m '
w!$w 1 Sip
had put In the Popolo Romano and she got a post aa
compahlon or Knglish governess to children, she would
raj tier stay on her than go. She turned the letter
oyer in her hand at shn. went up the dusky staircase
but it was too dark to read It till she reached her
rotmis. Then she saw that It had not the Indian po
mark. and for a moment her heart sank a llttlu with
the disappointment. It had, in fact, been left by pri
vate hand. Hhe broke the thick envelope open. A faint
sweet scent of violets seemed to quiver on the air as she
drew the folded paper out. There were only a few
lines written on the sheet lines in a bold, tirm hand
that Honor could not tell to be man's or woman's. The
address, Palatzo Lorenio, Via Serpollto, was printed
In red on the top.
"If the lady who advertised as Inclosed will call
tomorrow at the above address, between 4 and 5
o'clock In the afternoon, she may hear of something
Important to herselfc"
Just below the writing a slip of print cut from a
newspaper was .gammed to the leaf. It was the ad
vertisement Honor had Inserted 1n the Popolo Komnno.
Phe recognlxed the words that ha1 taken hr so much
thought to put properly. "A young English lady de
sires a position in a family In Koine as companion or
governess to little children. She can give good refer
ences." So her little ehlp sent out with trembling Angers
Into the wide ocean had come back into port with
something aboard! Somebody wanted her services
which he lud offered so timidly. She would tie able
after all to nianage her own support. She felt pleased
and elated. The shade of all these weeks of doubt
and anxiety seemed to lift as if sunshine had broken
through cloud. There was also a pleasurable little
thrill of excitement In this unknown summons. It
was strange that no name was given- she did not even
know whom she was to usk for when she found her
way to the Palazzo Lorenzo.
CHAPTER XVI
The Palazzo Lorenzo.
F
Olt Honor was fully determined to answer the
note In person. If she felt a faint doubt as l'i
what Mr. Vaughan would have advised, she put
It from her at once. He was certainly unduly
careful; 11 seemed to ber lie was almost absurdly aus
picious about people, as In the case of Prince fiaesar.
He might have said, "Don't go; write," and she might
lose the situation by not goliiK- doubt a post in a
big house like the Palazzo Lorenzo -palaces were al
ways big and Imposing would be eagerly snapped up.
If she waited to write some other girl might get there
first, and she would be left out in the cold. It might
be a little odd that there was no name mentioned In
the note, to be sure, but that was most probably an
twerslght. It did not affect the mutter at all. She
laid (lie note down on the littlo writing-table that she
always felt a kind of guiltiness in using, since it was
Mrs. Montressor's. and still had her papers and letters
in its drawers. Honor had carefully put them out of
sight and locked them up. waiting for the unknown
daughter to come and take charge of them the daugh -ter
who took so long to write.
Then, when she had dropped the note on the green
leather with -Its' splashes of faded ink spots, she went
over to the window, and stood and looked out dream
ily, Tho one little scrap of sky she could see oxer the
.lagged line or tne worn roonng was nine 93" in pis
iaiuJi. The warm red of the tiles lay blushing against
11. me mini or orooniK 01ces came clear tioni ine
church hard by. Now the organ rolled, and a bell
tinkled. It was all so strange a little while ago. and
now It had grown so familiar as familiar as life was
once In the old rectory, uder the elms. Honor's sleep
that night was tilled with pleasant images. She
dreamed of dear little children In the grim old Palazito
Lorenzo. She was riuite safe in picturing It grim all
Koman palaces were hung with gloom and oppression,
lined, so to speak, with black old deeds of past days.
Hut the bright faces of little boys and girls and their
high-pitched baby laughter would make the grimmest
palace gay Somehow, from the first, she had settled
in her mind that it was as nursery governess she would
be wanted. She loved children, and she thought 01
the little Roman people she had seen in the Borghese
gardens and the Pincio with their white-frocked
nurses, throwing gaudily painted balls high In the air
with shouts of rapture, or riding in the tiny goatcarts.
She could hardly wait for her early rolls and coffee
her eagerness waa so great to get up and dress. Be
tween 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon seemed such
an Interminable time to have to wait for the ap
pointment. She took out her stockings, and sat down
to mend them, a thing she cordially hated. There
would be little stockings to mend, perhaps. In the
palace, and it was as well to get her hand in she said
to herself, as she stretched the, black thread stockings
across her extended fingers and threaded her loiifr
darning neeie.
At last It wa half-past 3. and she could begin
her dressing- Never had she been more careful to
look neat and precise. She tried to recall all the nursery
governesses she had seen in her experience, and to
model her looks on theirs. But somehow the red
brown hair would crisp and crinkle regardless of all
her efforts, and. stray out from under the little black-and-white
hat. Honor had to let it go at last, after a
dozen despairing efforts to keep It smoothed back. And
she had an air that was rot at ail that of a girl used
to dependence as she w-nt down the hot street with
ber little black 'parasol In her hand, carefully keeping
to tiie shaded side.
She l.ad had no notion where the Palazzo Lorenzo
V- . - . l , .-
"She came down the room, this radiant figure, suddenly
was situated, but when she came to ask a guanlia at
the corner of the, Cdisu. Vltoj e Kuianuele he dil uted
her to the Via Sc1o?ltA;iihd"he found it was not far
from her ownVia Crwe Llanca in the old. old heart
of Rome. 8ha made ber way, there slowly, for she had
allowed herself tqo ftsuch tlme.'Jt seemed. It was only
five minutes pst-4, after a.1!, when she saw the name
of Serpolita cut m the square slab of white marble on
the corner o! a dark, forbidding street. ,
It was a try old Ktreel. jnd the houses In It must
have gone back to the veiy Middle Ages, at the least.
Frowning and repellant they stood, elbowing each
01 Her, ami grimly facing the buildings that stood so
near them across tne slit of way. that parted them, that
they seemed to be hurling defiance at their very teeth.
The line of sky that showed above their high roof edgo
was hut a mete thread from below, so close they
shouldered, and so lofty were their heights. Down
there In the black shudow of the street a chill struck
on you, in spite of the heat of the air at midday, there
was such gloom and cruelty about the place. Honor
went on till she reached a huge doorway standing
open to the courtyard within. it was more insolent
and self-assertive In its look than Its neighbors. The
great square windows that looked into the street, were
barred and cross-barred with stout old cages of worn
Iron, strong enough to Keep out a besieging army, one
would say Over the door arch there was carved deep
a coat-of-arms, but the boldly cut carving was smoothed
and blurred with time. Above it Honor could read
another carving "Palazzo Lorenzo" ran the letters.
They seemed to have been freshly renewed, for they
were less worn and dimmed.
This was the place, then. Perhaps she was to have
ber home here. Any one's spirit might have quailed a
little, and fell depressed, as one gazed at the gloom,
the dreariness, the prison-like aspect of the palace.
But Honor rebuked hers-Mf sharply. All Roman palaces
wero probably like this. Kvcn the Dorla. and the
t'olonna, where she had gine. on free days to see the
pictures, una xirucK a cni wnen one saw their gaunt
outsides. She went on under the tall archway and
found herself In a coriile from which a further one
opened under heavy arches again, and in tha Inner
court she caught a glimpse of white etatues gleaming
through the feathery grjfit of light pepper trees, and
the glossy leaves of orange shrubs. There was the
faintest trickle of dropping water from a gray old
stono fountain, with a basin of led porphyry that had
been the tomb of a Caesar, only Honor did not know
it then. The court was flagged with stones so broad
and square and heavy that the Iron wheels of chariots
might have raced over them for ever and left no ruts
worn on them or so ona thought. A she stood and
hesitated, not knowing which way to go. she saw that
there was a porter's lodge under the dark archway to
her left; and a man came out Jn a livery more gorgeous
than any she had ever seen. His cocked hat was tied
with scarlet and yellow ami hlne, and laced with gold
He wore a long coat of blue, gold-laced also, and he
carried a lonif rilt .staff with a big round head, like
a beadle's, hl hair was powdered, and he struck
Honor with surprise at his majesty.
"I have come in answer to this letter," she said
taking out of her pocket the one alio had received '
He looked at it, then bowed low with respect be
fore her. "Will it please the eignorina to enter? She
is. expected," he said.
He stood back to let her pass him. Honor saw
the steps of a broad inajblw staircase on the right
round an angle of the wall, and walked toward it'
Hut he promptly Intercepted ber, blocking the way
with another deep bow. "The gracious signorina will
pardon. The grand :ipproach is no longer used since
the Sardinians ran. e into Rome. If she will have the
condescension to take the staircase over in yonder
t,"-l"p, below the doorway opposite, she will ascend
v uvu.
Honor followed his 10I lira a ,1 .1 saw n ,l.
Inner courtyard a low. mean rfoorwav. with the lower
steps of a winding, narrow brown stair just showing
within. She had the curiosity to glance up the great
stair that no one used now as alio went on past.lt It
was wide enough to drive two coaches up abreast and
the steps were broad and shallow enough to have' per
mitted it. Wonderful statues of priceless old Greco
Roman art stood en It as it ran upward as far as the
first turn, that is, one could not send one's glance
further on. For across it therm was planted a high
ugly barrier of faded red baize, straight across the
siair from side to side, stopping all passage. It had
been run up tiie day tiie Italian troops and Victor
Kmmanuel entered Rome, and the pope retired into the
Vatican and shut himself up there. The owners ef the
Palazzo I.orenzo were of the blackest set In Rome,
the pope's devoted adherents and supporters. AH that
set closed their staircases of state, and went Into retire
ment the day when the Vatican power was lost to It.
They had remained shut ever since.
I'p the narrow, steep, winding stair Honor made
her way. At the top there Was a closed door at Which
she knocked. It opened Instantly, and a man servant
in a quiet, yet rich, livery that seemed somehow to
strike her with a sense of familiarity, stood bowing
deeply- at the entrance. fihe was evidently expected,
as the porter had said, and it was well, since she did
not know whom to ask for. Without a word, the
servant turned and led the way through a small vesti
, bule. and at once Honor found herself in a room With
a gorgeously painted celling and a floor of colored
marble, while pictures lined tiie walls. In it there was
no furniture out a few old tables with mosaic tops
and legs of carved gilding, and a lall-backed chair or
two with crimson brocade seats. He passed on The
room beyond was long for its width, and in it there
was a kind of raised dais with a faded crimson bro
cade canopy standing square above It. fringed and tas
seled with gold. A red rope barred it across, and its
only ooa-upaht was a great armchair, gilded and stuffed
snd covered with the name beautiful old brocade.
Behind the chair arms werer worked on the crimson
flooding the magnificent, stately room with light."
ack of the canopy, worked with gold and color, and
with a fatnt thrill Honor recognised that they were
the same arms us were cut Into the emerald of her
ring.
Without a pause the footman went on and Honor
followed. They entered another room, more beautiful
and lavish to Its adornment,; t All along the one aide
ran high mullloned windows. With1 the upper light
tilled with old stained g!as,Whoe glowing eolor
were dulled . and softened by time.: Under these win
dows were ranged sofaa and chair and divan, all
covered with white brocade embroidered in delicate
silks, and between stood table of precious malachite
and alabaster, bearing vases and cup and flagons ana
ivories, each of which might have come out of a
museum, for their rare beauty and value. The other
side of the room was hung with pictures, and below
the pictures there were statue, her and there, on
marble pedestals. The celling. 0 far up. that one had
to crane one's neck to examine It, wa aunk In deep
vaults of carved gilding, and lavish paintings lay In
the vaults. The floor was of polished Inlaid marble,
with (nmlnt old embroidered satin carpets laid down
here and there that cracked crisply under the foot.
The footman bowed deeply again, and left her.
Honor did not take the seat he had respectfully mo
tioned her to. She stood and stared about her with
an almost bewildered astonishment. Never In all her
life had she seen a room so rich, so wonderful never,
could he have pictured anything ao ornate, so costly,
outside the Arabian Nights. The pictures on the wall
were gems, even her Ignorance could discover their
glorv. Tke things that littered the tables and cabi
nets were the ransom of princes. On the wall )ut
opposite there hung a strange carved mask of Ivory
and ebony, with eyes so skilfully executed that they
were almost lifelike.
Honor crossed the polished floor to look closer.
Yes, they were wonderful. As he looked she felt her
blood thrill In her vein with a sudden shock that was
almost fear. The eyes had moved ureiy tney naa
'moved while she looked at them! She turned away,
then looked apprehensively again. This time they
were gone, and the mask stared blank!
CHAPTER XVII
A Roman Princess.
w
HAT marvel wa this? What human eyes were
those that peered at her In this mysteriou
fashion, while their owner waa hidden from
her sight? Honor felt a strange creeping of
eerie amazement, mixed with a tinge of terror. Why
should any one want to see her, while they themselves
were unseen? For what secret purposes, In this gloomy
old silent palace, was such a screen for eavesdropper
and spies? What use could It have In the twentieth
century? Why should she be spied at? Her disturbed
mind had hardly done asking these atartled ques
tions when she heard the door at the end of the room
creak on their gilt hinges, and she turned with a
sharp start. Her necves were -In danger of being
shaken. She gave a fuick glance to aee if the eyes
watched again from the dead mask face, but there
were only empty, staring sockets there.
She swerved round and faced the great door that
was set in one end of the room. It carved and painted
leaves parted, and between them atood a bowing cham
berlain in green and red brocade, with a long wand of
office In his hand. As he stepped back, etlll bowing
till his back bent double. Honor saw the space behind
him filled with a wonderful figure of girlish grace.
Borne one was coming In through the rich decorated
"portal who wa not much older than herself.
A girl quite young and oh. most beautiful! Honor
caught her breat-h as she looked. The exquisite frock
of floating white lace and chiffon spelt Paris with
every thread of it. From the slender shoulders dan
gled a filmy scarf, delicately embroidered with spray
of roses. On the white throat that held itself like a
little proud pillar flashed and gleamed a long, One
chain set with most precious stone. The head above
the white, filmy draperies that gave faint pink gleams
through of arms and shoulder, as the wearer moved,
the head was an enchanting head, worthy of such a
setting. Honor gazed with an admiration that forgot
where she was.
A wealth of hair, as black aa the feathers of a
raven, with the same sheen of blue light in It, when It
caught the sun hair that was massed In coil and
plaits and waves so as to show the email, well-set
head to its best advantage, and make a frame for the
ivory skin just tinged with cream. Eyes that were
black, too, with long lashes eye that spoke without
need of the beautiful, smiling rose-red Hps below; eyes
that could fcoften to jtenderest gentleness or flash with
regal pride and power; eyes that took Honor's heart
captive as ahe met them nd made her their slave.
She came down the room, this radiant figure, sud
denly, flooding the magnificent, stately room with
light. It waa as If sunshine had broken in through
the gloom and grlmnes of all that sumptuous fitting,
or a star had slid down from heaven In 'the middle
of night. She carried her little head royally thl
apparition that held Honor spellbound as' she came
down the long room with a step that seemed to.tread '
the grouna and possess it. Her delicate white throat
rose erect, and her chin such a charming chin, with
a soft dimple in it was a little In the air. Honor
atood speechless, forgetting that Bhe had come there
to take a situation, forgetting all her carefully pre- ,
pared answer to possible questions, forgetting every
thing on earth .but that she was gazing at the moat
lovely woman ahe had ever looked at In her life.
It was not till the vision was close beside her
that she recovered her sense and returned the
courteous bow It gave.
"Mlsa Molyneux? Will' you have th goodness to
ttr It was vote aa charming- a on would bar
,f (loked for from uch a mouth. Bhe pok English.
and with no raca of accent. One would have believed
'' her an Englishwoman but for the Italian face, Honor
took the glided chair with Ita brocaded seat that the
little white band. motioned her to. It wa a hand
, ' laden with rings, whoa diamond and pearl and
. . opal flashed a hundred rainbow color a It moved.
. "It la very good of -you to come In answer to my
" not." The hand, with the ring on It wa playing
now With the long gold chain set with- gem that
hung almost to her knee a the girl sat. "I am
ashamed to have troubled you, but X did not know
how el to get to spesk with you, and It waa
urgent. You don't mlndT How kind of you." Her
eyes- were not fixed on Honor' face a she pok.
oddly enough. She was closely scrutinizing- the
gloved hand crossed on the other' lap. The right
. hand lay uppermost.
"I waa very glad." Honor had found her tongue,
and the other'a pleasant manner set her at her ease.
, Could It be for her children that a governess waa
wanted? She knew that Ho man girl married very
young sometimes; Hill, to suggest that she had chil
dren old enough to need teaching seemed prepos
terous. "I It aa nursery governess or companion
that I should be wanted? I could undertake either.
I had no sisters or brothers at home, but I have
alwaya been very fond Of children, and I am aura I
could manage them."
For Just an Instant the. girl opposite stared and
did not answer. She eeemed taken aback. Then she
smiled and colored a little, the lovely delicate rose
flush climbing up like a stain under her creamy akin.
Hhe smiled, and her black eyes danced, though she
spok In a voice of reap regret. "Oh, I am aorry!
It waa not for either that r wanted to see you. I
read your advertisement, and felt sure it mutt be
you or, at least, I wanted .to be sure; that la why I
, sent. But my business ha nothing to do with that."
Perhaps he saw the sudden blank In Honor'
face the disappointment she could not quit hide.
Not for that I Then she hd come for nothing! All
her hope of a tltuatlon had been only mirage. It
wa a blow Indeed. Perhaps the other saw, for she
went on quickly, "I am truly sorry! I shall be sn
vexed If it has put you to Inconvenience. Hut indeed
It waa most important that I should see you. I could
not wait." 8he leaned a little toward Honor and
lowered her voice, as If It were possible she could
have been' overheard In that vast room, where they
were the only occupants. Honor remembered th
carved mask' on the wall and faintly shuddered. The
girl wa speaking with a sudden eagerness which
she made no sttempt to hide. "1 understuml you have
a ring; of mine that Is precious to me a valuable ring
that I lost.. I am so thankful to henr that It has been
safe in your keeping. Now, I shall be so grateful to
have it back from you. Are you wearing It? Have
vou brought It? Perhaps I ought to have asked you
io do that, but It was safekt not to write about it, I
thought "
The ring! Was It to be the ring for ever? Honor's
hands tightened their clasp of each other Involun
tarily. Whe had not expected this. There was no Mr.
Vaughan here now to stand between her and those
who wanted lo take It. How was she to know
whether this were any more genuine than the
declaration Prince Caesar had made?
"A.rina-'" ih reneated. trvlnir to sneak steadily.
In spile of herself, her voice betrayed her onsclous
nrss. Honor was not good at subterfuge. "A ring?
Put many people have lost rings, I suppose. Why
should you think I have what you have lost?"
"Because It was seen on your hnnd at the Oesu.
One of my servants offered you holy water, and the
ring was on your hand. He came home at onoe and
told me a confidential ervant who knew and under
stood. It was a mercy he saw It, not others. Yes,
yes, there Is ho mistake. Of course, 1 hoped you
most likely had It, since it had not been heard of
anywhere. Only I could not know where you were
to be heard of, either. I could not hope you were in
Rome. My servant followed you home and came and
told the address, but I did not even know your name
or if H were really you yourself. When I saw the
advertlaement In the paper I thought 1 might chance
It and get the lady who advertised t call and see me
on the rlfck of It being you, and so it is. I am so
obliged to you. It is more than a happy chance. It
must be, because V jrayed the blessed St. Anthony
to aid me.' He finds things for 11s."
She had her pretty pink palm held out. as if
Impatient to hold the ring irr it. Honor gripped her
fingers still tighter ona over the other. Ber since
the girl began to speak she had been haunted by a
curious familiarity that. was slowly dawning In her
face. Whom did she make one think of? Yrhy was
that clear-cut profile like one seen before, ns the
little well-poised Head turned? -It baffled Honor, but
It troubled, even in the midst of her uncertainty and
doubt.
"It Is true I have the ring," she said, resolved to
act only as her friend would have her, though he was
not there to help. "A ring, at least. I cannot tell if
It i the one you claim. Just yet. Perhaps, If you
have lost one, you would describe It to me. That
will let us feel sure whether it is the one I found."
"I declare to you that there can he no question,"
The other's tone was quick, even a trifle haughty,
and the little head went up. "But, of course, you are
right In wanting to know. I soon-can satisfy you.
It was a very remarkable ring an antique, quite
unique in appearance. Heavy chased gold setting,
deep under a flat, big emerald, with arms engraved
on It, an old polaon ring, they say."
. "What arms? -Would you tell me?" Certainly the
description waa correct so far, but the servant might
have told that.- The girl gave a faint movement, too
gentle to be called Impatient. Bhe took up a book
bound In white vellum and gold from the Inlaid table
at her elbow and opened it at the first leaf. "There,"
she said, holding It out for Honor to see. A book
plate sprawled DOldly on the sheet., "Those arms,
the arms of the, house of Crescenzi. t am. Prlncesa
Flavia Crescenzi. Now you can have no doubt."
(CONTINUED' NEXT SUNDAY.)