I was in the midst of something else when my eyes wandered. But when Mrs.
Ellsworth was taking her nap after luncheon I got the _Post_ again and
read the advertisement through carefully. The reason I was interested was
because even the glance I took showed that the girl who was 'wanted'
seemed in some ways rather like me. The advertisement said she must be
from twenty-one to twenty-six; needn't be a beauty, but of pleasant
appearance; money no object; the essentials were that she must have a
fair education and be of good birth and manners, so as to command a
certain position in society.

"I believe those were the very words. And it didn't seem too conceited
to think that I answered the description. I'm not bad-looking, and my
mother's father was an earl--an Irish one. I couldn't get the
advertisement out of my head. It fascinated me."

"No wonder!" exclaimed Mr. Smith. He had been listening intently, and
though she had paused, panting a little, more than once, he had not
broken in with a word.

"Do you _honestly_ think it no wonder?" Annesley flashed at him.

"It was like a prisoner seeing a key sticking in a door that has always
been locked," he said.

"How strange you should think of that!" she cried. "It was the thought
which came into my mind, and seemed to excuse me if anything could."
Annesley felt grateful to the man. She was sure she could never have
explained herself in this way or pleaded her own cause with the real Mr.
Smith. A man cold-blooded enough to advertise for a wife "well-born and
able to command a certain position in society" would have frozen her into