A STARTLING EPISODE.
Claire Keith had said truly that the woman across the way would prove
interesting to her.
She grew more and more fond of watching for the tall form, with its
trailing robes of black, its proudly-poised, heavily-veiled head, and
slow, graceful movement. Sometimes she saw a white hand pull away the
heavy curtains, and knew that the owner of the hand was looking out
upon the street. But the face was always in shadow. She could not
catch the slightest glimpse of it.
"She has strong reasons for not wishing to be seen and recognized; I
wonder what they are?" Claire would soliloquize at such times.
Then she would chide herself for being so curious. But the fits of
wondering grew stronger, until she came to feel an attraction that was
more than mere curiosity; a sort of proprietorship, as it were, in the
strange lady. She began to wish that she might know her, and at last,
in a very unexpected manner, the wish was gratified.
Claire had returned from a grand ball, weary and somewhat bored.
Disrobing with unusual haste, she sought her couch. She had supposed
herself very sleepy, but no sooner was her head upon the pillow, than
sleep abandoned her, and she tossed restlessly, and very wide awake.
Finding sleep impossible, and herself growing nervous, Claire at
length arose. Throwing on a dressing-gown, she pushed a large chair
to the window, and flinging herself in it, drew back the curtain.
Glancing across the way, she was startled by a light shining out from
the upper windows of the mysterious house. She had looked at that
house when quitting her carriage, because to look had become a habit.
But there had been no light then; not one glimmer. And now the entire
upper floor was brilliantly illuminated.
Claire rubbed her eyes and looked again. Then, with a cry of alarm,
she sprang to her feet and rang her bell violently.
From the roof of the house a single flame had shot up, and Claire
realized the cause of that strange illumination. The upper floor was
in flames!
She turned up the gas and commenced making a hurried toilet. By the
time the sleepy servant appeared in answer to her ring, she was
wrapping a worsted shawl about her head and shoulders, preparatory to
going out.
"Rouse papa and the servants, James!" she commanded, sharply. "Number
two hundred is on fire! Go instantly!"
Giving the startled and bewildered James a push in the direction of
her father's sleeping-room, she darted down the stairs. She unbolted
and unchained the street door, and hurried straight across to number
two hundred, where she rang peal after peal.
The tiny flame had grown a great one by this time, and almost
simultaneously with her ring at the door, the hoarse fire-alarm bell
roared out its warning.
It seemed an age to the girl before she heard bolts drawn back. Then
the face of an elderly male servant peered cautiously out through a
six-inch opening. In sharp, quick tones Claire told him that the roof
was in flames. The statement seemed only to paralyze the man.
Claire gave the door an excited push and spoke to him again. But he
never moved until a voice, that evidently belonged to the lady of the
house, said: "What is it, Peter?"
Claire answered for him: "Madame, the roof of your house is in flames!
Alarm your servants and make your escape!"
Through the doorway Claire saw a white hand laid on the man's
shoulder, and suddenly he became galvanized into life.
Then the chain fell, and the door opened wide.
Claire and the mysterious lady were face to face.
By this time the people were moving in the street, and from the
windows of Claire's home, lights were flashing.
The woman drew back at the sound of the first footstep, and seemed to
hesitate, with a look of uneasiness upon her face. Instantly Claire
spoke the thought that had been in her mind when she rang the bell:
"Madame, your house will soon be surrounded by strangers. Secure such
valuables as are at hand and come with me across to my home. There you
will be safe from intruders."
The lady raised her hand, and saying, simply, "Wait," hurried up the
broad stairs.
Now all was confusion. Down the street came the rushing fire engines;
servants ran about frantically, and people went tearing past Claire in
the crazy desire to seize something and smash it on the paving stones,
thereby convincing themselves that they were "helping at a fire."
Regardless of these, Claire stood at her post like a little sentinel.
Just as the first engine halted before the house, the mistress of all
that doomed grandeur crossed its threshold for the last time. Then she
turned to Claire, and the two hurried silently through the throng, and
across the street. The door was fortunately ajar. The servants and
Mr. Keith were all outside, so the girl and her companion had been
unobserved.
Claire led the way straight to her own room. Ushering in her
companion, she closed the door upon chance intruders, and turned to
look at her. The stranger had appeared at the door in a dressing-gown
of dark silk, and this she still wore, having thrown over it a long
cloak, and wrapped about her head, so as to almost entirely conceal
her features, a costly cashmere shawl. This she now removed, and
revealed to the anxious gaze of Claire the face of a woman past the
prime of life;--a face that had never been handsome, but which bore
unmistakable signs of refinement and culture in every feature. The
eyes were large, dark-gray, and undeniably beautiful. The hair was
wavy and abundant; once it had been black as midnight, but now it was
plentifully streaked with gray. The face was thin and almost
colorless. The hands were still beautiful, with long slender fingers
and delicate veining; the very _beau ideal_ of aristocratic hands.
This much Claire saw almost at a glance. Then the lady said, in a low,
sweet voice that was in perfect unison with the hands, and eyes, and
general bearing:
"I cannot tell you, dear young lady, how much I thank you for your
courage and hospitality. I could not have endured the going out upon
the street in that throng."
Claire laughed softly, and said, with characteristic frankness: "I
guessed that, madame, for I must confess to having, on more than one
occasion, seen that you do not desire observation."
[Illustration: "The mistress of all the doomed grandeur crossed the
threshold for the last time."--page 293.]
The stranger looked at her with evident admiration. "You were kinder
and more thoughtful for a stranger than I have found most of our sex,
Miss ----; I beg your pardon; I am so much of a hermit that I don't
even know your name."
"My name is Keith,--Claire Keith."
Then the girl crossed to the window and looked over at the burning
building, while the stranger sank wearily into a chair.
"Your house is going fast, madame. I fear nothing can be saved," said
Claire. "The upper floor is already gone."
The stranger smiled slightly, but never so much as glanced out at her
disappearing home.
"I hope my landlord is well insured," she said. "As for me, I have my
chiefest valuables here," drawing from underneath the cloak, which she
had only partially thrown off, a small casket, and a morocco case that
evidently contained papers. "I keep these always near me; as for the
rest, there is nothing lost that money cannot replace."
Claire looked a trifle surprised at her indifference to the
destruction of her elegant furniture, but made no answer. And the
stranger fell into thoughtful silence.
A rap sounded on the door, and a gentle voice outside said: "Claire,
dear, are you there?"
The girl turned upon the stranger a look of embarrassed inquiry. "That
is mamma," she said.
The lady smiled half sadly at her evident perturbation, and replied,
with a touch of dignity in her tone, "Admit your mother, my dear. I
was about to ask for her."
Claire drew a sigh of relief and opened the door.
"My child," began Mrs. Keith, as she hurriedly entered the room,
"James tells me that you--"
Here she broke off as her eyes fell upon the stranger, and Claire
hastened to say: "Mamma, this is the lady whose house is burning. I
ran over there as soon as I saw the first flame and asked her to come
here."
Mrs. Keith was not only a lady, but a woman of good sense, and she
turned courteously toward the intruder, saying, "You did quite right,
my dear. I trust you have not been too seriously a loser by this
misfortune, madame."
The lady had risen. Now she stepped forward and said, in her
unmistakably high-bred tones, "I have suffered no material injury, I
assure you. And your daughter has done me a great kindness. I was
about to ask if I might see you, as I felt that it was to you, as the
mistress of this house, that I owed some explanation regarding myself,
before accepting further hospitality from your daughter."
Mrs. Keith bowed gravely, and the stranger continued,
"My name is Mrs. Ralston. I have lived for nearly ten years a secluded
life, having been an invalid. Messrs. Allyne & Clive are my bankers,
and have been for years. Mr. Allyne is an old family friend. If you
will ask your husband to call upon him, you will be assured that I am
not a mysterious adventuress."
Mrs. Ralston smiled slightly, and Mrs. Keith smiled in return as she
said, cordially: "Your face and manner assure me of that, Mrs.
Ralston. And now will you not permit me to show you a room where you
can rest a little, for it is almost morning, and your night's repose
has been sadly disturbed."
"I must accept your hospitality, Mrs. Keith, and ask to be allowed to
intrude upon you until I can communicate with Mr. Allyne, and he can
find me a suitable place of residence."
"Don't let that trouble you, pray. We shall be happy to have you
remain our guest," and Mrs. Keith turned to leave the room.
Mrs. Ralston held out her hand to Claire, and that impulsive young
lady clasped it in both her own, as they bade each other good-night.
And so the mysterious lady was actually under the same roof with the
girl who had been so much interested in her and her possible history.
Mr. Allyne was well known to Mr. Keith, and a man whom he highly
esteemed. On the following day, at the request of Mrs. Ralston, he
called at the banking-house of Allyne & Clive.
On learning that Mrs. Ralston was the guest of his brother banker, and
of the demolition of her house, Mr. Allyne was doubly surprised. And
his statement concerning the lady was not only satisfactory but highly
gratifying. She had been left an orphan in her girlhood, and was from
one of the oldest and proudest of Virginia's old and proud families.
She had now no very near relatives, and having separated from a
worthless husband, had lived mostly in Europe. She had resumed her
family name, and although the husband from whom she had withdrawn
herself, had squandered nearly half her fortune, she was still a
wealthy woman. He spoke in highest terms of praise of her mind and
accomplishments, and assured Mr. Keith that she was not only a woman
of unusual refinement and culture, but one also of loftiest principles
and purest Christianity. If it were not that it would be the very
place where this worthless husband would be likeliest to find her, he
would not allow her to occupy any home save his own. And, lastly, Mr.
Allyne stated that if he, Mr. Keith, could prevail upon Mrs. Ralston
to remain under his roof, he would do Mr. Allyne a great favor.
"For," concluded that gentleman, "she lives too secluded, and she is
so well fitted for such society as that of your wife and daughter; she
is a woman to grace any household."
Mr. Keith returned home and faithfully reported all that he had heard
concerning their guest.
Claire had been very much in love with the grave, stately lady from
the first, and after a morning's chat with her, Mrs. Keith was not far
behind in admiration.
And the woman who had lived alone so much, found this cheery little
family circle very pleasant, so when Claire and her mother begged her
with much earnestness to remain with them, she did not refuse.
"I cannot resist the invitation which I feel to be so sincere," she
said. "I will remain with you for a time, at least, but I am too much
of a hermit to tarry long where there is such a magnet as this,"
turning to Claire.
And Claire laughingly declared that she would forswear society, and
don a veil of any thickness, if only Mrs. Ralston would share her
isolation.
So she stayed with them, and soon became as a dearly loved sister to
Mrs. Keith; while between herself and Claire, an attachment, as
unusual as it was strong, sprang into being. They drove together, read
together, talked together by the hour, and never seemed to weary of
each other's society.
Enthusiastic Claire wrote to Olive and Madeline, giving glowing
descriptions of her new found friend. But because of the events that
were making Olive and Madeline doubly dear to her, and because she
could not speak of them to a stranger, however loved and trusted,
Claire said little to Mrs. Ralston of her sister or of the little
heroine of Oakley.