Evilena had flitted away again to look up a dress for the party, and did not return, so she was left alone. She heard considerable walking about and talking in the rooms below and on the veranda. No one came along her corridor, however, so she could ask no questions as to the latest arrivals. For reasons of her own she had dispensed with a personal attendant after the departure of Louise; there was no maid to make inquiries of. An hour passed in this feverish suspense, when she went to the mirror with an air of decision, arranged her hair becomingly, added a coral brooch to the lace at her throat, slipped some glimmering rings on her white fingers, and added those little exquisite touches to the toilet which certain women would naturally linger over though it be the last hour on earth. Then she opened the door and descended the stairs, a picture of beauty and serenity--a trifle of extra color in the cheeks, perhaps, but it would be a captious critic who would object to the added lustre. Captain Monroe certainly did not, as he halted in the library at sight of her, and waited to see if she passed out on the veranda, or-- She looked out on the veranda; no one was there; with an impatient sigh she turned, pushed the partly opened door of the library back, and was inside the room before she perceived him. Involuntarily she shut the door back of her. "Oh--h!" and she held out her hand with a quick, pretty gesture of surprise and pleasure--"well met, Captain Jack!" He took the hand she offered and looked at her with a certain questioning directness. "I hope so, Madame Caron," and the gaze was so steady, his grasp so firm, that she drew her hand away with a little laugh that was a trifle nervous. "Your voice and face reassure me! I dare breathe again!" she said, with a mock sigh of relief; "my first glimpse of your uniform made me fear a descent of the enemy." "Have you need to fear any special enemy here?" he asked, bluntly. She put her hand out with a little gesture of protest as she sank back into the chair he offered. "Why should you be so curious on a first meeting?" she asked, with a quizzical smile. "But I will tell you, Monsieur, for all that; I am, of course, very much afraid of the Northern armies. I left Orleans rather than live under the Federal government, if you please! I have bought a very handsome estate a few miles from here which, of course, binds my interests more closely to the South," and she flashed a meaning, mocking glance up at him. "Do not look so serious, my friend, it is all very beautifully arranged; I had my will made as soon as the deed was signed, of course; no matter what accidents should happen to me, all my Southern properties will be held intact to carry on the plans for which they were purchased. I am already building my monuments," and she unfurled a silken fan the color of her corals and smiled across it at him.