“When do you expect him to return?” asked Barbara.
“Not until late, madam. He had to go into the country to attend a patient.”
Barbara hesitated for a moment; then with reluctance she put her next question.
“I will inquire, madam, if you will wait a moment.”
“If she is at home I should like to see her.”
The man invited Barbara in and went up-stairs to make the inquiry. He returned quickly to say that his mistress was at home, and would be pleased to see Lady Pelham.
Barbara followed him up the richly carpeted stairs into a magnificent drawing-room on the first floor. This room had been newly furnished, and showed excellent taste in all its arrangements. The electric light was subdued by golden silk draperies over the pomegranate shaped globes, the curtains were drawn before the large windows, there was a fire in the grate. From the depths of a deep arm-chair a tall woman dressed in black rose as Barbara entered. She had a pale face and radiant red-gold hair. She came a step or two forward and half hesitated whether to hold out her hand or not. Barbara advanced to meet her. For a moment she could not recognize in this graceful and perfectly dressed lady Nurse Ives, whom she had last seen at Ashley Mansions.
“Is this really you?” was the exclamation which burst involuntarily from her lips.
“Yes, it is I,” replied Mrs. Tarbot. “I am changed.”
“Thank you,” answered Barbara. She seated herself and threw up her veil.
“It is good of you to pay me this visit,” said Tarbot’s wife.
“I have come to you because your husband is out. This is not an ordinary call.”
“Indeed!” Mrs. Tarbot looked at Barbara with an intense and hungry stare.
“I will treat whatever you tell me as confidential,” she said.
Barbara looked full at her. Her very voice had altered, her manners were those of a refined and well-educated woman. Her dress, black, and of the softest lace and silk, scarcely rustled as she moved.
Now as she returned Barbara’s gaze her eyes grew bright. The eyes themselves were of a very pale blue, painfully deficient in color by daylight, but at night the pupils were apt to dilate, and in the midst of the white face the eyes glowed dark, somber and watchful. Barbara thought she had never seen a more peculiar or a stronger type of face. She was so much engaged in the amazing discovery of the changed Nurse Ives that she could not speak for a moment.