A comparative silence ensued. Lady Ingram thought it "le cas" to wring her hands: which she did accordingly. Miss Mary declared she felt, for her part, she never dared venture. Amy and Louisa Eshton tittered under their breath, and looked a little frightened.

     The minutes passed very slowly: fifteen were counted before the library-door again opened. Miss Ingram returned to us through the arch.

     Would she laugh? Would she take it as a joke? All eyes met her with a glance of eager curiosity, and she met all eyes with one of rebuff and coldness; she looked neither flurried nor merry: she walked stiffly to her seat, and took it in silence.

     "Well, Blanche?" said Lord Ingram.

     "What did she say, sister?" asked Mary.

     "What did you think? How do you feel?--Is she a real fortune-teller?" demanded the Misses Eshton.