At this moment there came up from the garden a harsh grating sound, as of some one cautiously turning a key in a rusty lock. The listener started to her feet, and laid one hand upon her heart. There were light steps upon the stairs--a cautious tread upon the balcony--and Minny, the Quadroon, sank at her mistress's feet. "So, child, you've come at last! Where have you lingered this long, long time? I am most distracted with watching for you, and my head aches terribly." Minny lifted up her pale face, with the black hair falling in strong contrast around it, and the angry glitter not yet gone from her brilliant eye. "Lady, I have lingered nowhere unnecessarily. You bade me be cautious, and it takes time to take stealthy steps. Besides, I was obliged to wait before I could approach him, and then--" "Enough, Minny! and then he gave you a letter for me. Give it me, girl, quick!" Minny drew the note from her bosom, and her mistress, approaching the lamp, put aside the shade which obscured it, and bent eagerly over the closely-written page she held. She read it again and again, and a smile of delight lit up the listless features, as she refolded it, and flung to the girl beside her to place in its delicate envelope. "Oh! it is such a sweet note, Minny; such a charming, delightful note! How did he look, Min, when he was writing it? Did he frown, and bite his lips, and grow pale, in that frightful way he has sometimes, or did he look handsome and happy?" "His back was toward me, Miss. I could not see how he looked." "Stupid Minny! Another time get where you can look straight into those black eyes of his, and read what they say all the while." "Another time I will, Miss." "What's the matter, Min? Come here, child. How you frighten me. You are as pale as a ghost! Tired with your long walk, that's it, puss! Kneel down here by me, and I'll play nurse for you." The girl knelt, and her young mistress drew toward her a bottle of lavender water, and poured it upon the bowed head before her; putting it on with her own soft hands till the long black curls glittered with the bright drops, as if decked with diamonds. "There, Minny, you are better now. Wipe my hands and undress me." With gentle, but trembling fingers, the girl proceeded to obey; and as her mistress lay listlessly back in her large fauteuil, proceeded to remove each article of dress, without the slightest assistance from the languid form before her. The jewels were laid away in their velvet cases--the ribbons folded and laid aside--the rich robe placed in the armoire, and the frilled and embroidered _robe de nuit_ placed upon her, and fastened with its gold buttons about her neck and wrists, with no more motion on the part of that passive figure, than if it had been a doll in the hands of a child.