lady was young, certainly not more than two or
three-and-twenty; but being moderately tall,
rather robust in make, and decided in expression,
she might have been two or three years
younger. I suppose that her complexion would
be termed a medium one; her hair being of a
bright brown, or auburn, while her eyes and
rather decidedly marked eyebrows were nearly
black. The colour of her cheek was of that pale
trasparent hue that sets off to such advantage
large expressive eyes, and an equable firm
expression of mouth. On the whole, the ensemble
was rather handsome than beautiful, her
expression having that agreeable depth and
harmony about it that rendered her face and
features, though not strictly regular, infinitely more
attractive than if they had been modelled upon
the strictest rules of symmetry.

It is no small advantage on a wet day and a
dull long journey to have an agreeable
companion, one who can converse, and whose
conversation has sufficient substance in it to make
one forget the length and the dreariness of the
journey. In this respect I had no deficiency to
complain of, the lady being decidedly and agreeably
conversational. When she had settled herself
to her satisfaction, she asked to be allowed
to look at my Bradshaw, and not being a
proficient in that difficult work, she requested my
aid in ascertaining at what time the train passed
through Retford again on its way back from
London to York. The conversation turned
afterwards on general topics, and, somewhat to
my surprise, she led it into such particular
subjects as I might be supposed to be more
especially familiar with; indeed, I could not avoid
remarking that her entire manner, while it was
anything but forward, was that of one who had
either known me personally or by report. There
was in her manner a kind of confidential reliance
when she listened to me that is not usually
accorded to a stranger, and sometimes she actually
seemed to refer to different circumstances with
which I had been connected in times past. After
about three-quarters of an hour's conversation
the train arrived at Retford, where I was to
change carriages. On my alighting and wishing
her good morning, she made a slight movement
of the hand as if she meant me to shake
it, and on my doing so she said, by way of adieu,
"I dare say we shall meet again;" to which I
replied, 'I hope that we shall all meet again,"
and so parted, she going on the line towards
London, and I through Lincolnshire to A——. The
remainder of the journey was cold, wet, and
dreary. I missed the agreeable conversation,
and tried to supply its place with a book I had
brought with me from York, and the Times
newspaper, which I had procured at Retford. But
the most disagreeable journey comes to an end
at last, and half-past five in the evening found
me at the termination of mine. A carriage was
waiting for me at the station, where Mr. Kirkbeck
was also expected by the same train, but
as he did not appear it was concluded he would
come by the next—half an hour later; accordingly,
the carriage drove away with myself only.

The family being from home at the moment,
and the dinner hour being seven, I went at once
to my room to unpack and to dress; having
completed these operations, I descended to the
drawing-room. It probably wanted some time
to the dinner hour, as the lamps were not lighted,
but in their place a large blazing fire threw a
flood of light into every corner of the room, and
more especially over a lady who, dressed in deep
black, was standing by the chimney-piece warming
a very handsome foot on the edge of the
fender. Her face being turned away from the door
by which I had entered, I did not at first see her
features; on my advancing into the middle of the
room, however, the foot was immediately
withdrawn, and she turned round to accost me,
when, to my profound astonishment, I perceived
that it was none other than my companion in
the railway carriage. She betrayed no surprise
at seeing me; on the contrary, with one of those
agreeable joyous expressions that make the
plainest woman appear beautiful, she accosted
me with, "I said we should meet again."

My bewilderment at the moment almost
deprived me of utterance. I knew of no railway
or other means by which she could have come.
I had certainly left her in a London train, and
had seen it start, and the only conceivable way
in which she could have come was by going on
to Peterborough and then returning by a branch
to A——, a circuit of about ninety miles. As
soon as my surprise enabled me to speak, I said
that I wished I had come by the same conveyance
as herself.

"That would have been rather difficult," she
rejoined.

At this moment the servant came with the
lamps, and informed me that his master had
just arrived and would be down in a few
minutes.

The lady took up a book containing some
engravings, and having singled one out (a portrait
of Lady——), asked me to look at it well and
tell her whether I thought it like her.

I was engaged trying to get up an opinion,
when Mr. and Mrs. Kirkbeck entered, and shaking
me heartily by the hand, apologised for not
being at home to receive me; the gentleman
ending by requesting me to take Mrs. Kirkbeck
in to dinner.

The lady of the house having taken my arm,
we marched on. I certainly hesitated a moment
to allow Mr. Kirkbeck to pass on first with the
mysterious lady in black, but Mrs. Kirkbeck not
seeming to understand it, we passed on at once.
The dinner-party consisting of us four only, we
fell into our respective places at the table without
difficulty, the mistress and master of the
house at the top and bottom, the lady in black
and myself on each side. The dinner passed
much as is usual on such occasions. I, having
to play the guest, directed my conversation
principally, if not exclusively, to my host and
hostess, and I cannot call to mind that I or any
one else once addressed the lady opposite. Seeing
this, and remembering something that looked
like a slight want of attention to her on coming