Toward five o’clock she rose and, a stately figure in lavender dressing-gown, strolled through the velvet hush of the great darkened house:  over foot-flattering rugs, through silken hangings that rustled discreet homage at her passing, by dark tapestries lit with threads of gold, among shadowy bronzes and family portraits and pier-glasses and glinting cut-glass candlesticks and chandeliers.  So exaltative yet so soothing, this opulent silence, this spacious solitude!

And for an almost perfect hour she sat in her rear drawing-room, lightly, ever so cautiously, touching bits of Grieg and Tschaikowsky out of her Steinway Grand—­just dim whispers of music that did not breathe beyond the door.  She played well, for she loved the piano and had a real gift for instrumentation.  Often when she played for her friends, she had to hold herself in consciously, had to play below her ability; for to have allowed herself to play her best might have been to suggest that she was striving to be as good as a professional, and that would have caused comment and been in bad taste.

Her piano was going to be another comfort to her.

She was complacent—­even happy—­even exultant.  It was all so restful.  And before her were three months—­three beautiful months—­of this calm, this rest, this security.

At seven o’clock Matilda announced that her dinner was ready, and she swept back into the great dining-room, high-ceilinged, surfaced completely with old paneling of Flemish oak.  The room was dimly illuminated by a single shaded electric bulb.  The other lighting had all been switched off; during the summer the illumination would, of course, have to be unsuspiciously meager.  To a mortal of a less exalted sphere the repast would have seemed a banquet.  Mrs. De Peyster, though an ascetic at noon, was something of an epicure at night; she liked a comfortable quantity, and that of many varieties, and these of the best.  Under the ministrations of Matilda she pleasurably disposed of clear soup, whitebait, a pair of squabs on toast with asparagus tips, and an alligator pear salad.

“Really, Matilda,” she remarked with benign approval as she leisurely began on her iced strawberries, “I had quite forgotten that you were such a wonderful cook.  Most excellent!”

“Thank you, ma’am,” In her enjoyment Mrs. De Peyster had not noticed that throughout the meal her faithful attendant had worn a somewhat troubled look.

“Just give me food up to this standard, and I shall be most happy, my dear.  My summer may grow somewhat tedious toward the end; I shall count a great deal on good meals to keep it pleasant.”

“Of course—­of course—­” and then a salad plate slipped from Matilda’s hands.  “Oh, ma’am, I—­I—­”

“What is the matter, Matilda?” demanded Mrs. De Peyster, a trifle stern at this ineptness.

“Nothing, ma’am.  Nothing at all.  I’ll see that you get it, b—­but I don’t know how I’ll get it.”