The Baroness Von Eulaw, the beautiful American, was more sought for than ever, and the too arduous round of social duties and engagements were beginning to tell upon her delicate constitution. Cards had been received by the baron and his wife for a reception at the palace, and such an invitation could scarcely be overlooked, especially as no entertainment seemed acknowledged by her friends to be complete without the presence of the baroness. Therefore, retiring a little earlier this evening than was usual from her own drawing rooms, the baroness was well advanced with her toilette when she discovered letters which the footman had left upon her table during her absence, and among them one bearing the postmark of Tucson, Arizona, and addressed in a well-known hand. She felt too excited to trust herself farther, and, before tearing the envelope, she sent her maid with a message of her sudden indisposition, which she begged the baron to deliver in person to the emperor, and asked, furthermore, not to be disturbed. It was all one to the baron at this hour, and though he speedily departed for the imperial palace, it is doubtful whether the high officials in waiting deemed it advisable to admit him to the imperial presence. Dismissing her servants, the baroness was left alone for the night. Then she turned to her dressing-table and stood while opening the letters, glancing hurriedly at their contents, all but one, and this she turned over many times. What was the burden of its mission, and what did it contain? Finally her trembling fingers picked absently at the envelope, as if she had forgotton how to proceed. She might be unafraid, for there was his own handwriting before her. With this thought a thrill went through her heart, and with a sudden motion she tore the envelope quite apart, and her own photograph fell to the floor. She did not stoop for it, for her eyes were fixed upon the page. Slowly she read word by word, lingering over the last, and cutting it away from its context, as if fearful that another word should overwhelm her reason. She finished, and an awful silence fell upon her. She could hear her heart beat against her rich corsage, and her breath crackled as it came through her dry lips. What was the purport of that letter? She had already forgotten. Something surely had left a heavy pain at her heart. Just as slowly she read it through again.