parlor, which was commonly designated in Banbridge as the
reception-room. The best parlor was furnished with a sort of
luxurious severity. There were a few pieces of staid old furniture of
a much earlier period than the others, but they were rather in the
background in the gloomy corners, and the new pieces were thrust
firmly forward into greater evidence.

Mrs. Van Dorn sat down on the corner of a fine velvet divan, and Mrs.
Lee near her on the edge of a gold chair. Then they waited, while the
maid retired with their cards. "It's a pretty room, isn't it?"
whispered Mrs. Lee, looking about.

"Beautiful."

"She kept a few pieces of the old furniture that she had in her old
house when this new one was built, didn't she?"

"Yes. I suppose she didn't feel as if she could buy all new."

The ladies studied all the furnishings of the room, keeping their
faces in readiness to assume their calling expression at an instant's
notice when the hostess should appear.

"Did she have those vases on the mantel-shelf in the old house?"
whispered Mrs. Lee, after a while; but Mrs. Van Dorn made a warning
gesture, and instantly both ladies straightened themselves and looked
pleasantly expectant, and Mrs. Morris appeared.

She was a short and florid woman, and her face was flushed a deep
rose; beads of perspiration glistened on her forehead, her black hair