suppose would have been called eminently interesting. She was tall
and slim, very graceful-looking, with a beautiful throat and a well-
shaped head. Her features, with the exception of her eyes, were in
no way remarkable; but those were sufficiently striking to give
character to a face that might otherwise have been insipid. They
were large luminous gray eyes, with black lashes, and rather
strongly-marked brows of a much darker brown than her hair. That was
of a nondescript shade, neither auburn nor chestnut, and with little
light or colour in its soft silky masses; but it seemed to harmonise
very well with her pale complexion. Lavater has warned us to
distrust any one whose hair and eyebrows are of a different colour.
I remembered this as I looked at Mrs. Darrell.

She was dressed in white; and I fancied the transparent muslin, with
no other ornament than a lilac ribbon at the waist, was peculiarly
becoming to her slender figure and delicate face. Her husband seemed
to think so too, for he looked at her with a fond admiring glance as
he offered her his arm to return to the house.

'I mustn't forget to introduce Miss Crofton to you, Augusta,' he
said; 'a school friend of Milly's, who has kindly accepted my
invitation to spend the holidays with her.'

Mrs. Darrell gave me her hand; but I fancied that she did so rather
coldly, and I had an uneasy sense that I was not very welcome to the
new mistress of Thornleigh.

'You will find your old rooms all ready for you, Milly,' she said;
'I suppose we had better put Miss Crofton in the blue room--next
yours?'