She wished to make herself beautiful--even more beautiful than usual--and, indeed, she accomplished her object.

Her slender form, its height accentuated by a long bodice, looked still taller from the imposing manner in which her hair was dressed.

Her features, until then somewhat drawn by the strain of constant anxiety, gained now a vivacity that was matched by the added colour that glowed in her cheeks.

A single morning in the Italian sun had, it would have seemed to an observer, worked wonders in her appearance.

But what she herself marvelled at most of all was the new light that shone in her eyes.