With perfect
composure she drew the chair back into the corner of the room beyond the
window and seated herself, keeping the shadow of her bonnet well over
her face. Mrs. Lecount's persuasive lips murmured a polite expression
of sympathy; Mrs. Lecount's amiable black eyes looked more interested in
the strange lady than ever. She placed a chair for herself exactly on
a line with Magdalen's, and sat so close to the wall as to force her
visitor either to turn her head a little further round toward the
window, or to fail in politeness by not looking at the person whom she
addressed. "Yes," said Mrs. Lecount, with a confidential little c ough.
"And to what circumstances am I indebted for the honor of this visit?"
"May I inquire, first, if my name happens to be familiar to you?"
said Magdalen, turning toward her as a matter of necessity, but coolly
holding up her handkerchief at the same time between her face and the
light.
"No," answered Mrs. Lecount, with another little cough, rather harsher
than the first. "The name of Miss Garth is not familiar to me."
"In that case," pursued Magdalen, "I shall best explain the object that
causes me to intrude on you by mentioning who I am.
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