The next moment Mrs. Van Pelt was called away, and Mary was again left to her isolation. With a dread of having Christian see her there, old-fashioned and neglected, a stranger to every individual in the assemblage of wealth and fashion, she slipped quietly away into the library, where some elderly people were playing whist. She would have gone home, but she lived in an obscure street some distance away. With a sense of suffocation she now remembered that she would have to recall herself to Christian's mind, for she must depend upon him to see her home. "He has not thought of me once this evening," she said bitterly. Soon supper was announced. Gentlemen and ladies began to pair off, not one mindful of her. She was hesitating between remaining there in the library and going unattended to the refreshment-room, when a white-haired gentleman entered from the parlor. He glanced at Mary, and was passing on when he paused and looked again. A moment of hesitation ensued while the young girl and the old gentleman gazed at each other. "Miss Trigillgus, I believe?" he said, finally. "My name is Ten Eyck. I knew your mother when she was a girl, and I knew her father. Allow me the pleasure of escorting you to supper." Mary took the proffered arm with the feeling of one who unexpectedly encounters a friend in a foreign land. As he reseated her in the library after supper he said, "Present me kindly to your mother: if ever I can serve her, I should be glad to do so." At length the party was ended. Every guest had gone except Miss Trigillgus. "I'm afraid I shall have to trouble you to see me home, Mr. Van Pelt," she said to Christian with a burning at her heart. "Allow me the pleasure, you mean to say," replied Christian with a bow. This was but a passing pleasantry, and Mary should not have allowed it to bring the color to her cheek, and that peculiar, half-disdainful look to her eye and lip. "I fear you haven't had a pleasant evening," said Mrs. Van Pelt as Mary took leave of her hostess. "It was not to be expected that I should, being an entire stranger." "Well, dear, come and spend a quiet evening with me soon; and give my love to your mother."