sleeps in the thurible of this Grand-Duke."

"How delicious! Ah, my extravagant child! we cannot afford such
luxuries now. The perfume recalls so vividly the time when Bertie--"

A sob cut short the sentence. Beryl pinned the flowers at her
mother's throat, kissed her cheek, and kneeling before her, crossed
her arms on the invalid's lap, resting there the noble head, with
its burnished crown of reddish bronze braids.

"Mother dear, humor my childish whim. In defiance of my wishes and
judgment, and solely in obedience to your command, I am leaving you
for the first time, on a bitterly painful and humiliating mission.
To-night, let me be indeed your little girl once more. My heart
brings me to your knees, to say my prayers as of yore, and now while
I pray, lay your dear pretty hands on my head. It will seem like a
parting benediction; a veritable Nunc dimmitas."




CHAPTER II.


"I do not want a carriage. If the distance is only a mile and a
half, I can easily walk. After leaving town is there a straight
road?"

"Straight as the crow flies, when you have passed the factory, and
cemetery, and turned to the left. There is a little Branch running