A countess, a widow, a woman of the world who had seen enough to make her composed under all circumstances, one would say--a trained mare, as Doodles had called her--she stood before her glass, doubting and trembling like a girl, when she heard that Harry Clavering was waiting for her below.

We may surmise that she would have spared herself some of this trouble had she known the real name of her visitor.

Then, as she came slowly down the stairs, she reflected how she would receive him.

He had stayed away from her, and she would be cold to him--cold and formal as she had been on the railway platform.

She knew well how to play that part.