“Presently my eye caught a portrait I fancied to be a likeness of the landlady, hung with dusty crape upon the wall, and having the appearance of a specter peering through the mist.  I was curious to see the quality of her beauty, and advancing toward it, parted the crape in the center, and there beheld a face and bust of such exquisite loveliness that I felt sure the rogue of a painter must, in the outpouring of his love for the beautiful, have been trying his skill at flattering the vanity of some damsel with a likeness of Haidee.  She had the bust of a Venus, and was dressed low enough in the neck to admit full scope to the devil’s fancies.  Her face, too, was so oval that nature could not have added one line more to its perfection; while her complexion was of deep olive, made ravishing by the carnatic flush of her cheeks.  And she had what poets and lady novelists call great Italian eyes, beaming lustrous of soul and energy; and hair that floated in raven blackness over shoulders that seemed chiseled.  I began to think myself the happiest of men, for my system had always a bit of poetic fire in it.  And then these charms, which had already begun to rob my heart of its peace, were made more seductive by a calmly resolved and yet pensive expression of countenance.  Indeed, at a second glance, it seemed to approach melancholy, and bespoke that frame of mind when sorrow feeds most upon the heart.

“I touched the frame, and instantly it fell to the floor, with a great noise.  And while in the midst of my confusion, a key clicked in the door, and a lady of stately figure, dressed in deep mourning, advanced into the parlor, and, being deeply veiled, took a seat upon the sofa, quite like a stranger.  I bowed and said, ’Madam, I am waiting for the mistress of the house.  You are on a similar errand, I take it?’ To which she replied in a voice of peculiar sweetness, that she was the person, and would have me make known my business.  She then threw back one veil, and then another, until she discovered a face even more beautiful than that of the portrait I had just replaced on the wall.  I must also mention that she seemed conscious of her charms, for with an air of much grace and dignity, she raised her jeweled fingers, so tapering, and smoothed the glossy black hair over her polished brow, while the diamonds of her bracelets sparkled through the white ruffles that hung from her wrists.

“‘My name, madam,’ said I, ’is Major Roger Sherman Potter, commonly called Major Roger Potter.  I make no doubt you have heard of me, for enough has been said of me in the newspapers.  But I will say no more of that just now, for it does not become a military man to speak of himself.”

“‘Your name, sir,’ said she, condescending a bow and a smile, ’is quite familiar.  Indeed, if you will pardon it in me, I may say that I have had great curiosity to see a gentleman so popular, for I was raised and educated among distinguished people, and am fond of their society, which I cannot now enjoy, since fortune has treated me unkindly, and I am not what I was, as you may see by my humble calling.’