Her forehead was very low--it was her only handsome feature; and she had a great abundance of crisp dark hair, finely frizzled, which was always braided in a manner that suggested some Southern or Eastern, some remotely foreign, woman.

She had a large collection of ear-rings, and wore them in alternation; and they seemed to give a point to her Oriental or exotic aspect.

A compliment had once been paid her, which, being repeated to her, gave her greater pleasure than anything she had ever heard.

"A pretty woman ?" some one had said.
"Why, her features are very bad." "I don't know about her features," a very discerning observer had answered; "but she carries her head like a pretty woman." You may imagine whether, after this, she carried her head less becomingly.
She turned away from the window at last, pressing her hands to her eyes.
"It 's too horrible!" she exclaimed.

"I shall go back--I shall go back!" And she flung herself into a chair before the fire.
"Wait a little, dear child," said the young man softly, sketching away at his little scraps of paper.
The lady put out her foot; it was very small, and there was an immense rosette on her slipper.