“Yes, Mrs. De Peyster.”

“Matilda, call William and have him waiting in the hall till I summon him.  Come back immediately.”

“But, Cousin Caroline, what is it?” asked Olivetta excitedly, as Matilda went out.

“Wait!” said Mrs. De Peyster in a majestic tone.

A minute passed, Mrs. De Peyster standing composedly by the fireplace, Olivetta gazing at her in throbbing suspense.  Then Matilda returned.  Her Mrs. De Peyster summoned to her side.

“Matilda, you have proved your loyalty to me by twenty years of service,” she began, “and you, Olivetta, I know are completely devoted to me.  So I know you both will faithfully execute my requests.  But I must ask you not to breathe a word of what I tell you, and what we do.”

“I?” cried Olivetta.  “Never a syllable!”

“Nor I, ma’am,—­never!” declared Matilda.

“But first, Matilda, I must acquaint you with a situation that has just arisen.”  And Mrs. De Peyster outlined such details of her predicament as she thought Matilda needed to know.  “And now, here are my orders, Matilda.  The house, of course, is being boarded up as usual.  All the servants are sent away except William; and that order, if you have given it, for a maid for me is to be countermanded.  You, Matilda, are to remain here alone in charge of the house as has been your custom.  The report that I am sailing is to be allowed to stand.  But in reality—­”

“Yes, in reality?” cried the excited Olivetta.

“In reality,” continued Mrs. De Peyster calmly, for she knew how a denouement is heightened by a quiet manner—­“in reality, I shall, during the entire summer, stay here in my own house.”

“Stay here!” ejaculated Olivetta.

“Stay here!” exclaimed Matilda.

“Stay here.  Chiefly in my suite.  Secretly, of course.  No one but you two will ever know of it.  By staying here, I shall be practically at no expense.  But the world will think I am in Europe, and my position will be saved.”

Staggered as she was, Olivetta had remaining a few fragments of reason.

“But—­but, Caroline!  You cannot merely announce that you are going abroad!  You are a person of importance—­your every move is observed.  People will see that you do not sail.  How will you get around that?”

It sounded a poser.  But Mrs. De Peyster was unruffled.

“Very simply, Olivetta.  You shall sail in my stead.”

“Me!” cried Olivetta, yet more bewildered.

“Yes, you.”

“But—­but, if you cannot afford Europe for yourself, how can you afford it for me?”

“It would take a great many thousands for me to go in the manner that is expected of me.  I cannot afford that.  For you, Olivetta, since the passage is already paid, it would take but a few hundred—­and that I can afford.”

“You—­you mean that I am to pass for you?”

“Yes.”

“But I never can!  People will know the difference!”