"I have had a wonderful evening!" she said. Lady Lilian looked at her inquiringly. "Wonderful," said Stella, frankly. "You see I have never been in such a place as this before; it all seems so grand and beautiful--more beautiful than grand indeed, that I can scarcely believe it is real." "It is real--too real," said Lady Lilian, with a smile and a little sigh. "I daresay you think it is very nice, and I--do you know what I think?" Stella shook her head. "I think, as I look down at your little cottage, how beautiful, how nice your life must be." "Mine!" said Stella. "Well, yes, it is very nice. But this is wonderful." "Because you are not used to it," said Lady Lilian. "Ah! you would soon get tired of it, believe me." "Never," breathed Stella, looking down; as she did so she saw the maidenhair, and held it up. "Lord Leycester sent these to you," she said. A loving light came into Lady Lilian's eyes as she took the green, fragrant sprays. "Leycester?" she said, touching her cheek with them. "That is like him--he is too good to me." Stella looked across the room at a picture of the Madonna rising from the earth, with upturned, glorious eyes. "Is he?" she murmured. "Oh, yes, yes, there never was a brother like him in all the wide world," said Lady Lilian, in a rapt voice. "I cannot tell you how good he is to me; he is always thinking of me--he who has so much to think of. I fancy sometimes that people are apt to deem him selfish and--and--thoughtless, but they do not know----" "No," said Stella again. The voice sounded like music in her ears--she could have listened forever while it sung his song; and yet that word suddenly rang out in discord, and she smiled. "He seems very kind," she said--"he is very kind to me." Lady Lilian looked at her suddenly, and an anxious expression came into her eyes. It was not many nights ago that she had implored Leycester to see no more of the girl with the dark eyes and silky hair; and here was the girl sitting at her feet, and it was her doing! She had not thought of that before; she had been so fascinated by the fresh young beauty, by the pure, frank eyes, that she had actually acted against her own instincts, and brought her into Leycester's path! "Yes, he is very kind to everybody," she said. "And you have enjoyed yourself? Have they been singing?" "Yes, Lady Beauchamp." "Lenore," said Lilian, eagerly. "Ah, yes; does she not sing beautifully, and is she not lovely?" "She sings beautifully, and she is very lovely," said Stella, still looking at the Madonna. Lady Lilian laughed softly. "I am very fond of Lenore. You will like her very much when you know her better. She is--I was going to say--very imperial." "That would be right," said Stella; "she is like a queen, only more beautiful than most queens have been." "I am so glad you admire her," said Lady Lilian; then she paused a moment, and her white hand fell like a thistle down on the dark head beside her. "Shall I tell you a secret?"