Nothing could be more apparently kind and sincere than were her words of sympathy, nothing more soothing than the sound of her voice; and when she for a moment raised Mrs.Hamilton, while she adjusted her pillows, the sick woman declared that never before had any one done it so gently or so well.
Mrs.Carter was just resuming her seat when in the adjoining hall there was the sound of a heavy tread, and had Mrs.Hamilton been at all suspicious of her visitor she would have wondered at the flush which deepened on her cheek when the door opened and Mr.Hamilton stood in their midst.

On seeing a stranger he turned to leave, but his wife immediately introduced him, and seating himself upon the sofa, he remarked, "I have seen you frequently in church, Mrs.Carter, but I believe I have never spoken with you before." A peculiar expression flitted over her features at these words, an expression which Mr.Hamilton noticed, and which awoke remembrances of something unpleasant, though he could not tell what.
"Where have I seen her before ?" thought he, as she bade them good night, promising to come again and stay a longer time.

"Where have I seen her before ?" and then involuntarily his thoughts went back to the time, years and years ago, when, a wild young man in college, he had thoughtlessly trifled with the handsome daughter of his landlady.

Even now he seemed to hear her last words, as he bade her farewell: "You may go, Ernest Hamilton, and forget me if you can, but Luella does not so easily forget; and remember, when least you expect it, we shall meet again." Could this strange being, with honeyed words and winning ways, be that fiery, vindictive girl?
Impossible!--and satisfied with this conclusion Mr.Hamilton resumed his evening paper..