"At what hour will you have dinner served?" and then added in a whisper, "_I wish to speak with you alone_." "At seven, as I directed you, when I first arrived," replied Randolph, and followed the servant from the drawing-room. Mr. Hicks led the way, down the broad staircase, to the spacious hall on the lower floor, which was now illuminated by a large globe lamp. "Pardon me, Mr. Royalton," said Mr. Hicks, "for troubling you about the dinner hour. That, if you will excuse me for saying so, was only a pretext. Your Agent, who arrived before you, to-day, and engaged myself and the other domestics, gave me especial directions, to prepare dinner to-night, at seven precisely. It was not about the hour of dinner, therefore, that I wished to see you, for we all know our duty, and you may rely upon it, that all the _appointments_ of this mansion, are in good hands." "Right, Mr. Hicks, right, may I ask whether my Agent, who was here to-day, wore an odd dress which he sometimes wears, a,--a--" "A blue surtout, with a great many capes? Yes, sir. The fashion in the south, I presume." "_It was then my unknown friend of the half-way-house,_" thought Randolph: presently, he said, "Why did you call me from the drawing-room?" Mr. Hicks bowed his formal bow, and pointed to a door of dark mahogany: "If you will have the kindness to enter that room, you will know why I called you." And Mr. Hicks bowed again, and retreated slowly from the scene. Placing his hand upon the door, Randolph felt his heart beat tumultuously against his breast. "Yesterday, a hunted slave," the thought rushed over him, "and to-day, the master of a mansion, and with a train of servants to obey my nod! So, my unknown friend in the surtout, with blue capes, was here to-day, acting the part of my 'Agent.' What new wonder awaits me, beyond this door?" He opened the door, and he trembled, although he was anything but a coward. The room into which he entered, was about half as large as the drawing-room above. A lamp standing in the center of the carpet, shed a soft luxurious luster over the walls, which, white as snow, were adorned with one mirror, and three or four pictures, set in frames of black and gold. At a glance, in one of these frames, Randolph recognized the portrait of his father. The windows, opening on the street, were vailed with damask curtains. A piano stood in one corner, a sofa opposite, and elegant chairs of dark wood, were disposed around the room. It was at once a neat, singular, and somewhat luxurious apartment. And on the sofa, was seated the figure of a woman, closely vailed. Her dark attire was in strong contrast with the scarlet cushions on which she rested, and the snow-white wall behind her. Randolph stopped suddenly; he was stricken dumb, by a sensation of utter bewilderment. The unknown did not remove the vail from her face; she did not even move. "You wish to see me, Madam?" he said, at length.