BOOK THE FIRST.



CHAPTER I.

THE CONFIDENCES.

IN an upper room of one of the palatial houses which are situated on the
north side of Hyde Park, two ladies sat at breakfast, and gossiped over
their tea.

The elder of the two was Lady Loring--still in the prime of
life; possessed of the golden hair and the clear blue eyes, the
delicately-florid complexion, and the freely developed figure, which are
among the favorite attractions popularly associated with the beauty
of Englishwomen. Her younger companion was the unknown lady admired by
Major Hynd on the sea passage from France to England. With hair and eyes
of the darkest brown; with a pure pallor of complexion, only changing to
a faint rose tint in moments of agitation; with a tall graceful figure,
incompletely developed in substance and strength--she presented an
almost complete contrast to Lady Loring. Two more opposite types of
beauty it would have been hardly possible to place at the same table.

The servant brought in the letters of the morning. Lady Loring ran
through her correspondence rapidly, pushed away the letters in a heap,