Armed with her card of introduction, the Baroness set forth on her “errand of mercy.” She had not mentioned Miss Irving’s name to Mabel or Alice. The secret of the rector’s interest in the girl was locked in her own breast. She knew that Mabel was wholly incapable of coping with such a situation, and she dreaded the effect of the news on Alice, who was absorbed in her love dream. The girl had never been denied a wish in her life, and no thought came to her that she could be thwarted in this, her most cherished hope of all. The Baroness was determined to use every gun in her battery of defence before she allowed Mabel or Alice to know that defence was needed. The rector’s card admitted her to the parlour of a small flat. The portières of an adjoining room were thrown open presently, and a vision of radiant beauty entered the room. The Baroness could not explain it, but as the girl emerged from the curtains, a strange, confused memory of something and somebody she had known in the past came over her. But when the girl spoke, a more inexplicable sensation took possession of the listener, for her voice was the feminine of Preston Cheney’s masculine tones, and then as she looked at the girl again the haunting memories of the first glance were explained, for she was very like Preston Cheney as the Baroness remembered him when he came to the Palace to engage rooms more than a score of years ago. “What a strange thing these resemblances are!” she thought. “This girl is more like Senator Cheney, far more like him, than Alice is. Ah, if Alice only had her face and form!” Miss Irving gave a slight start, and took a step back as her eyes fell upon the Baroness. The rector’s card had read, “Introducing Mrs Sylvester Lawrence.” She had known this lad by sight ever since her first Sunday as organist at St Blank’s, and for some unaccountable reason she had conceived a most intense dislike for her. Joy was drawn toward humanity in general, as naturally as the sunlight falls on the earth’s foliage. Her heart radiated love and sympathy toward the whole world. But when she did feel a sentiment of distrust or repulsion she had learned to respect it. Our guardian angels sometimes send these feelings as danger signals to our souls. It therefore required a strong effort of her will to go forward and extend a hand in greeting to the lady whom her rector and friend had introduced.