“There, child!” Mrs. Blunt ejaculated, as the carriage stopped; “we’re home, and I’m glad of it, for you’ve caused me a heap of anxiety first and last, or I’m much mistaken; but you’re safe and sound, thank Heaven, though you’re rather delicate-looking for what I imagine is before you;” this “much mistaken” individual prepared to alight, casting a look of honest pity into the face of the fair girl as she did so. Star looked surprised at this somewhat ambiguous speech, and would have liked to ask what it meant, but the woman gave her no opportunity, paying for and dismissing the carriage in her quick, energetic way, and then led her around to a side door and entered the mansion. Beckoning Star to follow her, she passed through a lofty hall and up a wide, thickly carpeted staircase, where on every hand there were evidences of wealth and luxury. Rapping upon a door at the front end of the upper hall, a voice bade her enter, and the woman opened it and passed in, and Star following, saw a handsome woman of perhaps forty years, dressed with great elegance and taste, sitting in a low rocker by a window. She turned an inquiring glance upon Mrs. Blunt as she advanced. She could not see Star, as she was directly behind her and hidden by her tall figure. “Well, madam, I’ve found her at last, and here she is,” she said, in a satisfied tone, and stepped one side to present the young girl. Madam heaved a sigh—it might have been of relief, it might have been the reverse; no one could have told which from the expression of her face—as she bent a critical glance upon the young stranger who had come to find a home in her house. She arose, came forward, and studied the fair, downcast face; for Star, after the first glance, knew she would receive no tender welcome from that cold, proud woman, and her heart sank like a dead weight in her bosom. Something like a frown gathered on the woman’s brow as she marked her exceeding loveliness. “Well, Stella, you have had a hard voyage,” she began, in smooth, cool tones, which made Star shrink from her and shiver slightly, they were so distant and devoid of feeling. “I am glad, however,” she went on, “that you are safe, and I hope, now that you are here and I am to give you a home, you will do your best to please me. You look very much like your mother as I remember her, although I trust your face will not prove as great a misfortune to you as hers did to her.” This last statement was made with some severity. Evidently Mrs. Richards was not pleased to find the new arrival so beautiful in face and figure. “Mamma unfortunate! How?” Star asked, surprise loosening her tongue.