John Gayther had never dug into a garden-bed as earnestly and anxiously
as he now dug into his mind. These ladies were coming for a story. The
younger one had doubtless told her mother that there had been stories
told in the garden, and now another one was wanted, and it was more than
likely that he was expected to tell it. But he did not feel at all easy
about telling a story to the Mistress of the House. He knew her so well,
and the habits of her mind, that he was fully assured if his fancies
should blossom too luxuriantly she would ruthlessly pull them up and
throw them on the path. Still he believed she would like fancies, and
highly colored ones; but he must be very careful about them. They must
be harmonious; they must not interfere with each other; they might be
rare and wonderful, but he must not give them long Latin names which
meant nothing.

One thing which troubled him was the difficulty of using the first
person when telling a story to the Mistress of the House. He could tell
his stories best in that fashion, but he did not believe that this
hearer would be satisfied with them; she would not be likely to give
them enough belief to make them interesting. He had a story all ready to
tell to the Daughter of the House, for he had been sure she would want
one some day soon, and this one, told in a manner which would please
him, he thought would please her; but it was very different with her
mother. He must be careful.

When the two ladies came to the bed where the beans were to be planted,
the gardener found that he had not mistaken their errand.

"John," said the Mistress of the House, "I hear you tell a very good
story, and I want you to tell me one. Let us find a shady place."

There was a pretty summer-house on the upper terrace, a shady place
where the air was cool and the view was fine; and there they went: but
there was no need of John Gayther's making any pretence of trimming up
pea-sticks this time.

"I have a story," said he, his stool at a respectful distance from the
two ladies, who were seated on a bench outside the little house.

"Is it about yourself?" asked the Daughter of the House.

"No, miss, not this time," he answered.

"I am sorry for that," she said, "for I like to think of people doing
the things they tell about. But I suppose we can't have that every
time."

"Oh, no," said her mother; "and if John has an interesting story about
anybody else, let him tell it."

The gardener began promptly. "The name of this story is 'The Lady in the
Box,'" said he, "and, with the exception of the lady, the principal
personage in it was a young man who lived in Florence toward the end of
the last century."

"And how did you come to know the story?" asked the Daughter of the
House. "Has it ever been told before?"

Now there was need to assert himself, if John Gayther did not wish to
lose grace with his hearers, and he was equal to the occasion. "It has
never been printed," said he, quietly but boldly. "It came to me in the
most straightforward way, step by step."

"Very good," said the Mistress of the House; "I like a story to come in
that way."

"The young man, whose name was Jaqui," continued John Gayther, "was of
good parts, but not in very good circumstances. He was a student of
medicine, and was the assistant of a doctor, which means that he did
all the hard work, such as attending to the shop, mixing the drugs, and
even going out to see very poor patients in bad weather. Jaqui's
employer--master, in fact--was Dr. Torquino, an elderly man of much
reputation in his town. The doctor expected Jaqui to be his successor,
and as the years went on the younger man began to visit patients in good
circumstances who fell sick in fine weather. At last Dr. Torquino made a
bargain with Jaqui by which the latter was to pay certain sums of money
to the old man's heirs, and then the stock and good-will of the
establishment were formally made over to him; and, shortly afterwards,
the old doctor died. But before his death he told Jaqui everything that
it was necessary for him to know in regard to the property and the
business to which he had succeeded.

[Illustration: The gardener began promptly.]

"Torquino's house was a very good one, consisting of three floors. On the
ground floor were the shop, the private office, and the living-rooms. The
old doctor and Jaqui lodged on the third floor. The second floor was very
handsomely furnished, but was not then occupied--at least, not in the
ordinary way. It belonged to Dr. Paltravi, the old doctor's former
partner; a somewhat younger man, and married. He had been greatly
attached to his wife, and had furnished these rooms to suit her fancy. He
was a scientific man, and much more devoted to making curious experiments
than he was to the ordinary practice of medicine and surgery. In a small
room on this floor, at the very back of the house, was Donna Paltravi, in
a box."

"Was she dead?" exclaimed the Daughter of the House.

"It was believed by Dr. Torquino that she was not, but he could not be
sure of it."

"And her husband?" asked the elder lady. "Was he dead?"

"No," replied the gardener; "at least, there was no reason to suppose
so. About forty years before the time of this story he had left
Florence, and this was the way of it: Donna Paltravi was a young and
handsome woman, but her health was not as satisfactory as it might have
been, for she had a tendency to fall into swoons, and to remain in
them, sometimes for many hours, coming out of a trance as lively as
before she went into it. Now this disposition had a powerful effect upon
her husband, and he studied her very closely, with an interest which
almost devoured the other powers of his mind. He experimented upon her,
and became so expert that he not only could bring her out of her trances
whenever he chose, but he could keep her in them; and this he did,
sometimes as long as a week, in order to prove to himself that he could
do it."

"Shame upon him!" exclaimed the Daughter of the House.

"Never mind," said her mother; "let John go on."

"Well," continued the gardener, "the old doctor told Jaqui a great many
things about Paltravi and his wife, and how she came to be at that time
in the box. Paltravi had conceived a great scheme, one which he had
believed might have immense influence on the happiness of the world. He
determined that when his wife next went into a trance he would try to
keep her so for fifty years, and then revive her, in the midst of her
youth and beauty, to enjoy the world as she should find it."

"There was nothing new about that," said the Mistress of the House.
"That is a very old story, and the thing has been written about again
and again and again."

"That is very true, madam," answered John Gayther, "and Dr. Paltravi had
heard many such stories, but most of them were founded upon traditions
and myths and the vaguest kind of hearsay, and some were no more than
the fancies of story-tellers. But the doctor wanted to work on solid
and substantial ground, and he believed that his wife's exceptional
opportunities should not be sacrificed."

"Sacrificed!" exclaimed the Daughter of the House. "I like that!"

"Of course I will not attempt to explain the doctor's motives, or try
to excuse him," said the gardener. "I can only tell what he did. He
protracted one of his wife's trances, and when it had continued for a
month he determined to keep it up for half a century, if it could be
done; and he went earnestly to work for the purpose. The old doctor had
not altogether approved of his partner's action, but I don't believe he
disapproved very much, for he also possessed a good deal of the spirit
of scientific investigation. When everything had been arranged, and the
lady had been placed in a large and handsome box which had been designed
with great care by her husband and constructed under his careful
supervision, she was carried into the little room which had been her
boudoir; and there her husband watched and guarded her for nearly a
year. In all that time there was not the slightest change in her so far
as mortal eye could see, but there came a change over her husband. He
grew uneasy and restless, and could not sleep at night; and, at last, he
told Dr. Torquino he would have to go away; he could not stay any longer
and see his beautiful wife lying motionless before him. The desire to
revive her had become so great he found it impossible to withstand it,
and therefore, in the interest of science and for the advantage of the
world, he must put it out of his power to interfere with the success of
his own great experiment.

"He wrote down on parchment everything that was necessary for the person
to know who had charge of this great treasure, and he made Dr. Torquino
swear to guard and to protect Donna Paltravi for forty-nine years, if
he should live so long, and, if he did not, that he would deliver his
charge into the hands of some worthy and reliable person. If, at the end
of the lady's half-century of inanimation, Paltravi should not make his
appearance, on account of having died, (for nothing else would keep him
away), then the person in charge of the lady was to animate her in the
manner which was fully and minutely described on the parchment. Paltravi
then departed, and since that time nothing had been heard of him.

"When Jaqui came into possession of Dr. Torquino's house, he felt he
owned the contents of only two floors, and that the second floor,
especially the little room in the rear, was a great responsibility which
he did not desire at all, and of which he would have rid himself if
Dr. Torquino had not made him swear that he would guard it sacredly
for the ten years which still remained of the intended period of
inanimation.

"He had seen the lady in the box, for the old doctor had taken him into
her room, and they had removed the top of the box and had looked at
her through the great plate of glass which covered her. She was very
beautiful and richly dressed, and seemed as if she were merely asleep.
But, in spite of her beauty and the interest which attached to her, he
wished very much somebody else had her to take care of. Such thoughts,
however, were of no use; she went with the business and the property,
and he had nothing to say about it.

"Jaqui did not have a very good time after the old doctor's death,"
continued John Gayther. "It was not even as good as he had expected it
to be. For nearly fifteen years he had been living in that house with
Dr. Torquino, and in all that time the lady in the box had never
troubled him; but now she did trouble him. Various legal persons came
to attend to the transfer of the property, and, although they found
everything all straight and right so far as the old doctor's possessions
were concerned, they were not so well satisfied in regard to the
contents of the second floor, some of them thinking the government
should have something to say in regard to the property of a man who had
been away for forty years; but as Paltravi had made Torquino his heir
when he left Florence, and Jaqui had the papers to show, this matter was
settled. But, for all that, Jaqui was troubled, and it was about the box
of the lady. It was such a peculiar-looking box that several questions
were asked as to its contents; and when Jaqui boldly asserted that it
contained anatomical preparations, he was asked why it happened to be in
that handsome little room. But by the help of money and his generally
good reputation Jaqui got rid of the legal people.

"But after this he had to face the neighbors. These heard of the box,
and it revived memories, in the minds of some of the elders, of strange
stories about Dr. Paltravi. His wife had died several times, according
to some of them, and she had at last been carried to her native town in
Lombardy for burial. But nobody knew the name of that town, and there
were one or two persons who said she never had been buried, but that her
husband had preserved her skeleton, and had had it gilded, he was so
very fond of her. Jaqui had a good deal of trouble with these people,
who had never dared to trouble old Dr. Torquino with their idle
curiosity, for he was a man with a high temper and would stand no
meddling.

"But when the neighbors had ceased to talk, at least to him, there came
a third class of troublers, worse than either of the others. These were
some scientific people who long ago had heard of the experiment
Dr. Paltravi had been making with his wife. Several of these wrote to
Jaqui, and two of them came to see him. These insisted on looking at the
lady in the box, and Jaqui was obliged to show her. The two scientists
were very much interested--extremely so; but they did not in the least
believe the lady was alive. They considered the beautiful figure the
most admirable specimen of the preservation of the human body after
death that they had ever seen, and that Paltravi was entitled to the
greatest credit for the success of his experiment. They were anxious to
be informed of the methods by which this wonderful result had been
obtained. But this, Jaqui firmly informed them, was now his secret and
his property, and he would not divulge it. The scientists acknowledged
the justice of this position, and did not urge their point; but each of
them, when he went away, resolved that in the course of a few years he
would come back, and if the body of the lady was still in good
preservation, he would buy it if he could. Jaqui might be poor by that
time, or dead.

"Jaqui now thought his troubles were over; but he was mistaken. A new
persecutor appeared, who belonged to a fourth class, fortunately not a
very large one. This person was a young man who was not only a fool but
a poet."

"Unfortunate creature!" exclaimed the Mistress of the House.

"I don't know, madam," said John Gayther. "He was very happy. It was the
people with whom he associated in this world who were unfortunate. This
young man, whose name was Florino, lived in Milan, and it would have
been much better for Jaqui if he had lived in Patagonia. By great bad
luck he had overheard one of the scientists who had visited Jaqui
talking about what he had seen at his house, and the poet instantly
became greatly interested in the story. He plied the learned man with
all manner of questions, and very soon made up his mind that he would go
to Florence to see the lady in the box. He believed she would make a
most admirable subject for a poem from his pen.

"When Florino presented himself to Jaqui he came as the general of an
army who settles down before a town to invest it and capture it, if he
shall live long enough. At first Jaqui tried to turn him away in the
usual manner; but the poet was not to be turned away. He had no feelings
which could be hurt, and Jaqui was afraid to hurt his body on account of
the police. The young man begged, he argued, he insisted, he persisted.
All he wanted was to see, just once, the face of the beautiful lady who
had been so wonderfully preserved. He visited the unfortunate Jaqui by
day and by night; and at last, when Florino solemnly promised that if he
should be given one opportunity of seeing the lady he would go away and
never trouble Dr. Jaqui any more, the latter concluded that to agree to
this proposition would be the best way to get rid of the youth, and so
consented to allow him to gaze upon the face which forty years before
had been animated by the soul of Donna Paltravi.

"When the upper part of the lid of the box had been removed and the face
of the lady appeared under the plate of glass, the soul of the young
poet who tremblingly bent over it was filled with rapturous delight.
Never in his life had he seen anything so beautiful, and, more than
this, he declared he had never dreamed of features so lovely. For a
time it interested Jaqui to listen to the rhapsodies and observe the
exaltation of the fool-poet, but he soon had enough of this amorous
insanity, and prepared to close the box. Then Florino burst into wild
entreaties--only ten minutes more, five minutes, three minutes,
anything! So it went on until the poet had been feasting his eyes on the
lady for nearly half an hour. Then Jaqui forcibly put him out of the
room, closed the box, and locked the door.

"Florino had no more idea of keeping his word than he had of becoming a
blacksmith. He persecuted Jaqui more than he had before, and when his
solicitations to see the lady again were refused he went so far as to
attempt to climb up to her window. Of course Jaqui could have called in
the aid of the police, but it would have made it very unpleasant for him
to bring the whole affair into court, and Florino knew this as well as
he did. After a short time the poet tried a new line of tactics, and
endeavored to persuade Jaqui that it was his duty to revive the lady;
when this idea once got well into the head of the young man he became
a worse lunatic than before. Jaqui attempted to reason with him; but
Florino would listen to nothing he had to say, and went on being a
fool, and a poet, and a lover, at the same time; and Jaqui began to be
afraid that some day he would get into the room by foul means, break
open the box, seize upon the sealed parchment which lay under the lid,
and try to revive the lady himself.

"It is quite possible this might have happened had not something very
unexpected occurred. Dr. Paltravi came back to his old home. Jaqui
recognized him immediately from the description which Torquino had given
of him. He was now nearly seventy years old, but he was in good health
and vigor; his tall form was still upright, and the dark eyes, which the
old doctor had particularly described, were as bright and as piercing as
ever they had been.

"He told Jaqui he had hoped to postpone the revival of his wife until
the expiration of the fifty years, but that of late his resolution had
been weakening. It had become very hard for him to think he must wait
ten years more before he came back to his home and his wife. Science was
a great thing, but the love of a man for a woman such as he loved was
still greater; and when he heard of the death of Dr. Torquino he had
instantly made up his mind he would not leave his wife in the custody of
any one but his old friend and partner. So here he was, fully resolved
to lose no time in reviving his wife and in spending his life here with
her in their old home so long as they might survive.

"Jaqui was now a happy man. Here was the owner of the lady, ready to
take her off his hands and relieve him of all the perplexing
responsibility and misery which her possession had caused him. As he
looked at the stalwart figure of the returned husband it made him laugh
to think of the fool-poet.

"Dr. Paltravi and Jaqui were both practical men, and that evening they
laid out the whole plan for the revivification of the lady in the box.
Jaqui was so glad to be rid of her that he willingly undertook to do
anything to assist Paltravi in starting out on his new career of
domestic happiness.

"It was agreed that it was most important that when she woke again to
life Donna Paltravi should not be too much surprised, and her husband
did everything he could to prevent anything of the kind. He had her old
bedroom swept and garnished and made to look as much as possible as it
had been when she last saw it. Then he went out into the town, and was
fortunate enough to engage as maid a young girl who was the daughter of
the woman who had been his wife's maid forty years before. Then it was
decided that this girl, having been well instructed as to what was
expected of her, should be the first to see the lady when she should
revive; and that after that, when it should be deemed a suitable moment,
Jaqui should have an interview with her in the capacity of physician,
and explain the state of affairs so that she should not be too greatly
excited and shocked by the change in the appearance of her husband.
Then, when everything had been made plain, Paltravi was to go to her."

"Those two were a couple of brave men," remarked the Mistress of the
House.

"They were very fortunate men, I think," said her daughter. "What would
I not give to be the first to talk to a woman who had slept for forty
years!"

"Perhaps she is going to sleep indefinitely," answered the Mistress of
the House. "But we will let John go on with his story."

"All these plans were carried out," continued John Gayther. "The next
day the lady was taken out of the box, removed to her own chamber, and
placed upon a couch. The garments she wore were just as fresh and well
preserved as she was, and as Dr. Paltravi stood and looked at her, his
heart swelling with emotion, he could see no reason why she should not
imagine she had fallen asleep forty minutes before instead of forty
years. The two doctors went to work, speaking seldom and in whispers,
their faces pale and their hearts scarcely beating, so intense was their
anxiety regarding the result of this great experiment. Jaqui was almost
as much affected as Dr. Paltravi, and, in fact, his fears were greater,
for he was not supported by the faith of the other. He could not help
thinking of what would follow if everything did not turn out all right.

"But there was no need of anxiety. In a little while respiration
was established; the heart began to beat gently; the blood slowly
circulated; there was a little quiver about the lips--Donna Paltravi
was alive! Her husband, on his knees beside her, lifted his eyes to
heaven, and then, his head falling forward, he sank upon the floor."

"Oh," ejaculated the Daughter of the House, "I hope he did not die. That
would have been good tragedy, but how dreadful!"

"No," answered the gardener, "he did not die; and Jaqui, his excitement
giving him the strength of a giant, took the insensible man in his arms
and carried him out of the room."

The Mistress of the House gave a little sigh of relief. "I am so glad he
did," said she; "I was actually beginning to be afraid. I really do not
want to be present when she first sees him."

John Gayther perfectly understood this remark, and took it to heart. It
implied a little lack of faith in his dramatic powers, but it made
things a great deal easier for him.

"Without reëntering the room," continued he, "Jaqui partly closed the
door, and gazed at the lady through a little crack."

"I do not know about that," said the Mistress of the House; "he should
have gone in boldly."

"Excuse me," said John Gayther, "but I think not. This was a very
important moment. Nobody knew what would happen. She must not be shocked
by seeing a stranger. At the same time, the eye of a professional man
was absolutely necessary. Donna Paltravi slightly moved and sighed; then
she opened her eyes and gazed for a few minutes at the ceiling; after
which she turned her head upon the cushion of the couch, and in a clear,
soft voice called out, 'Rita!' This was the name of the girl now in
waiting, as it had been the name of her mother, and she instantly
appeared from the adjoining room. She had seen all that had happened,
and was trembling so much she could scarcely stand; but she was a girl
of nerve, and approached and stood by her mistress. 'Rita,' said the
lady, without looking at her, 'I am hungry; bring me some wine and a few
of those cakes you bought yesterday.'

"Dr. Paltravi had remembered everything that had pleased his wife; he
had thought of the little cakes, and had scoured the town early in the
morning to get some which resembled them; he knew her favorite wine, and
had given Rita her instructions. Without delay the maid brought the
refreshments, and in a few minutes the lady was sitting on the couch, a
glass of wine in her hand. 'Rita,' said she, after eating and drinking
a little, 'you are dressed very awkwardly this morning. Have you been
trying to make your own clothes?'

"The doctor had searched diligently in his wife's closets for some
garments belonging to her former maid, and he had thought he had
succeeded in getting Rita to dress as her mother had dressed; but he did
not remember these things as accurately as his wife remembered them.
'You know I do not like carelessness in dress,' continued Donna
Paltravi, 'and now that I look at you more closely--'

"'She is truly alive,' said Jaqui, 'and in full possession of her
senses.' And with this he closed the door.

"When the doctor recovered, both he and Jaqui were very glad to take
some wine, for they had been under a dreadful strain."

"_Had been!_" exclaimed the Mistress of the House, who understood the
heart of woman, and knew very well that the great strain had not yet
come. "But what happened next, John?"

"The next thing happened too soon," replied the gardener. "In less than
fifteen minutes the maid came to the two doctors and told them her lady
demanded to see her husband; and if he were not in the house he must be
sent for immediately. This greatly disturbed Jaqui, and he turned pale
again. If he could have had his own way at that moment he would have put
the lady back in her box and locked the door of the little room. He did
not feel ready to tell the story he had to tell; but there was no help
for it: he must do it, and that immediately. 'Go in, Jaqui,' said
Dr. Paltravi; 'prepare her mind as well as you can, and then I will see
her.'

"'Hurry, please, sir,' said the maid; 'she is very impatient, and I
cannot explain to her.'

"Thus reassured, Jaqui followed the maid."

"The quick temper of Donna Paltravi reminds me of Edmond About's story
of 'The Man with the Broken Ear,'" said the Mistress of the House. "The
hero of that story was a soldier who had been preserved in a dried
condition for many years, and who proved to be a very bad subject when
he had been dampened and revived."

"I have read that novel," said John Gayther, considerably to the
surprise of both his hearers, "and it belongs to the same class as
mine,--of course you know all stories are arranged in classes,--but the
one I am telling you is much more natural and true to life than the one
written by the Frenchman."

"I am quite ready to believe that," said the Mistress of the House. "Now
please go on."

The Daughter of the House did not say anything, but she looked very
earnestly at the gardener; the conviction was forcing itself upon her
that John Gayther himself had a story, and she hoped that some day she
might hear it.

"Jaqui was very much surprised when he saw Donna Paltravi. He had seen
her face so often that he was perfectly familiar with it, but now he
found it had changed. In color it was not as lifelike as it had been in
the box. She was pale, and somewhat excited. 'My maid tells me you are a
doctor, sir,' said she. 'But why do you come to me? If I need a doctor,
and my husband is away, why is not Dr. Torquino here?'

"'Madam,' said Jaqui, his voice faltering a little, 'you will excuse the
intrusion of a stranger when I tell you that Dr. Torquino is dead.'"

"Rather abrupt," said the Mistress of the House.

"He could not help it, madam," said John Gayther; "it popped out of his
head. But it did not matter; Donna Paltravi had a quick perception.
'Oh,' she exclaimed, 'and I not know it!' Then she stopped and looked
steadfastly at Jaqui. 'I see,' she said slowly; 'I have been in one of
my trances.' Then she grew still paler. 'But my husband, he is not dead?
Tell me he is not dead!' she cried.

"'Oh, no,' exclaimed Jaqui; 'he is alive and well, and will be with you
very soon.' Donna Paltravi's face lighted with an expression of great
happiness; her color returned; and she looked almost as handsome as when
she had been lying in the box. 'Blessed be the holy Mary!' said she. 'If
he is well it does not matter what has happened. How long have I been in
a trance?'

"'I cannot say exactly,' replied Jaqui, very much afraid to speak the
truth; 'in fact, I was not here when you went into it: but--'

"'Oh, never mind, never mind!' she exclaimed. 'My husband will tell
me everything. I would much rather he should do so. But what
ugly-fashioned clothes you are wearing, sir! Does everybody dress in
that way now, or is it only doctors? I am sure I must have been asleep
for a good while, and that I shall see some wonderful things. It is
quite delightful to think of it. I can scarcely wait until my husband
comes. I want him to tell me everything.'

"When the greatly relieved Jaqui returned with this news he threw
Dr. Paltravi into a state of rapture. His wife knew what had happened;
she had not been shocked; she understood; and, above everything else,
she longed to see him! After all these forty years he was now--this
minute--to be with her again! She was longing to see him! With all the
vigor of youth he bounded up the stairs.

"Now," said John Gayther, "we will pass over an interval of time."

"I think that will be very well indeed!" the Mistress of the House said
approvingly.

"Not a long one, I hope," said her daughter, "for this is a breathless
point in the story. I have worked it out in my own mind in three
different ways already."

The gardener smiled with pleasure. He had a high regard for the mind of
the Daughter of the House.

"Well," said he, "the interval is very short; it is really not more than
twenty minutes. At the end of that brief space of time Jaqui was
surprised to see Dr. Paltravi reënter the room he had so recently left
in all the wild excitement of an expectant lover. But what a changed man
he was! Pale, haggard, wild-eyed, aged, he sank into a chair and covered
his face with his hands."

"I was afraid of that! I was afraid of that!" exclaimed the Mistress of
the House.

"And I, too," said her daughter, with tears in her eyes; "that was one
of the ways in which I worked it out. But it is too dreadful. John
Gayther, don't you think you have made a mistake? If you were to
consider it all carefully don't you really believe it could not be that,
at least not quite that?"

"I am sorry," said the gardener, "but I am sure this story could not
have happened in any other way, and I think if you will wait until it is
finished you will agree with me.

"For a few minutes the distressed husband could not speak, and then in
faltering tones he told Jaqui what had happened. His wife had been so
shocked and horrified at his appearance that she had come near fainting.
What made it worse was that it was evident she did not regard him as
some strange old man. She had recognized him instantly. His form, his
features, his carriage were perfectly familiar to her. She had known
them all in her young dark-haired husband of forty years before; and
here was that same husband gray-headed, gray-bearded, and repulsively
old! She had turned away her head; she would not look at him. As soon as
she could speak she had demanded to know how long she had been in her
trance, and when the matter was explained her anger was unbounded.

"Dr. Paltravi never told Jaqui all that she said, but she must have used
very severe language. She declared he had used her shamefully and
wickedly in keeping her asleep for so long, and then wakening her to be
the wife of a miserable old man just ready to totter into the grave. But
she would not be his wife. She vowed she would have nothing to do with
him. He had deserted her; he had treated her cruelly; and the holy
father, the Pope, would look upon it in that light, and would separate
her from him. With bitter reproaches she had told him to go away, and
never to let her see him again."

"She ought to have been ashamed of herself," said the Daughter of the
House. "I have no sympathy with her. Instead of upbraiding him she ought
to have been grateful to him for the wonderful opportunities he had
given her."

"But, John," said the Mistress of the House, "I do not believe the Pope
could have separated them. The Roman Catholic Church does not sanction
divorce."

"Not as a rule, madam," replied the gardener; "but I will touch on this
point again. There was a good deal to be said on her side, it is true;
but I am not going to take sides with any of the persons in my story.
She had driven away the poor doctor, and declared she would have nothing
to do with him; and so the unhappy man told Jaqui he was going back to
Milan, where he had been living, and would trouble his wife no more.
Then up jumped Jaqui in a terrible state of mind. Was he never to get
rid of this lady? He declared to Paltravi he could not accept the
responsibility. When she had been in the box it had been bad enough, but
now it was impossible. He would go away to some place unknown. He would
depart utterly and leave everything behind him.

"But on his knees Dr. Paltravi implored Jaqui to stay where he was, and
to protect his wife for a time at least. He would send money, he would
do everything he could, and perhaps, after a time, some arrangement
could be made; but now he must go. He had been ordered to leave, and he
must do so. It had not been two days since Paltravi and Jaqui had met,
but already it seemed to them that they were old friends. Strange
circumstances had bound them together, and Jaqui now found he could not
refuse the charge which was thrust upon him; and Dr. Paltravi departed.

"Donna Paltravi did not allow her anger to deprive her of her
opportunities. There were so many new things she wanted to see that she
set about seeing them with great earnestness and industry, and she
enjoyed her new world very much indeed. The news of her revivification
spread abroad rapidly, for such a thing could not be concealed; and many
people came to see her. She was beautiful and popular, and adopted new
fashions as soon as she learned them. Jaqui had nothing to say to all
this; he had no right now to keep people from seeing her.

"Very soon there came to her the fool-poet. Now Jaqui began to hope. He
had been assured by his priest that, under the circumstances, the church
would dissolve this young lady's marriage with Paltravi, and if Florino
would marry her Jaqui might look forward to a peaceful life. Now whether
the priest had a right to say this I will not take it on myself to say;
but he did say it: and so Jaqui did not feel called upon to interfere
with the courtship of the fool-poet. He decided that as soon as possible
he would go away from that house. He had a dislike for houses with three
floors, and his next habitation should be carefully selected; if so much
as a preserved bug or a butterfly in a box should be found on the
premises, that symbol of evil should be burned and its ashes scattered
afar.

"Jaqui had every reason to hope. Florino literally threw himself at the
feet of the fair Donna Paltravi; and she was delighted with him. He was
somewhat younger than she was, but that had been the case with her first
lover, and she had not objected. The two young people got on famously
together, although there was now a duenna as well as a maid on the
second floor. Jaqui was greatly comforted. He spent a good deal of his
spare time going about Florence looking for a desirable house with two
floors. The courtship went on merrily, and there was talk of the
wedding; and, while Jaqui could not help pitying the poor old man in
Milan, he could not altogether blame the gay young woman in Florence,
who was now generally looked upon as a lady who had lost her husband.

"It was nearly three weeks after the lady had come out of her box when a
strange thing happened: four days elapsed without Florino coming to the
house! Jaqui was greatly disturbed and nervous. Suppose the young man
had found some other lady to love, or suppose his parents had shut him
up! Such suspicions were very disquieting, and Jaqui went to see
Florino. He found the fool-poet in a fit of the doleful dumps. At first
the young man refused to talk: but, when Jaqui pressed him, he admitted
that he had not quarrelled with the lady; that she did not know why he
was staying away; that he had received several notes from her, and that
he had not answered them. Then Jaqui grew very angry and half drew his
sword. This was a matter in which he was concerned. The lady's husband
had placed her in his charge, and he would not stand tamely by and see
her deserted by her lover, who had given everybody reason to believe
that he intended to make her his own.

"But Jaqui put back his sword, for the fool-poet showed no signs of
fight, and then he used argument. Just as earnestly as he had formerly
tried to keep these two apart did he now endeavor to bring them
together. But Florino would listen to no reason, and at last, when
driven to bay, he declared he would not marry an old woman--that Donna
Paltravi had dozens of gray hairs on each temple, and there were several
wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. He was a young man, and wanted a
young woman for his wife.

"Jaqui was utterly astounded by what he heard. His mind was suddenly
permeated by a conviction which rendered him speechless. He rose, and
without another word he hurried home. As soon as he could he made a
visit to Donna Paltravi. He had not seen her for a week or more, and the
moment his eyes fell upon her he saw that Florino was right. She was
growing old! He spent some time with her, but as she did not allude to
any change in herself, of course he did not; but just as he was leaving
he made a casual remark about Florino. 'Oh, he has not been here for
some time,' said the lady. 'I missed him at first, but now I am glad he
does not come. He is very frivolous, and I have a small opinion of his
poetry. I think most of it is copied, and he shows poor judgment in his
selections.'

"That evening, sitting in his private room, Jaqui thought he saw through
everything. Up-stairs on the second floor was a lady who was actually
seventy-one years old! Her natural development had been arrested by
artificial influences, but as these influences had ceased to operate,
there could be no reason to doubt that nature was resuming her authority
over the lady, and that she was doing her best to make up for lost time.
Donna Paltravi appeared now to be about forty-five years old."

"This is getting to be very curious, John," said the Mistress of the
House. "I have often heard of bodies which, on being exhumed, after they
have been buried a long time, presented a perfectly natural appearance,
but which crumbled into dust when exposed to the air and the light.
Would not this lady's apparent youth have crumbled into dust all at once
when it was exposed to light and air?"

"I cannot say, madam," said the gardener, respectfully, "what might have
happened in other cases, but in this instance the life of youth remained
for a good while, and when it did begin to depart the change was
gradual."

"You forget, mamma," said the younger lady, "that this is real life, and
that it is a story with one thing coming after another, like steps."

"I did forget," said the other, "and I beg your pardon, John."

The gardener bowed his head a little, and went on: "Jaqui was greatly
interested in this new development. He made frequent visits to Donna
Paltravi, and found, to his surprise, that she was not the vain and
frivolous woman he had supposed her to be, but was, in reality, very
sensible and intelligent. She talked very well about many things, and
even took an interest in science. Jaqui lost all desire to put her back
in her box, and spent the greater part of his leisure time in her
company."

At this the Mistress of the House smiled, but her daughter frowned.

"Of course," continued the gardener, "he soon fell in love with her."

"Which was natural enough," said the Mistress of the House.

"Whether it was natural enough or not," cried her daughter, "it was not
right."

John Gayther looked upon her with pride. He knew that in her fair young
mind that which ought to be rose high above thoughts of what was likely
to be, which came into the more experienced mind of her mother.

"But you see, miss," said John Gayther, "Jaqui was human. Here was a
lady very near his own age, still beautiful, very intelligent, living in
the same house with him, glad to see him whenever he chose to visit her.
It was all as clear as daylight, and it was not long before he was in
such a state of mind that he would have fallen upon Florino with a drawn
sword if the fool-poet had dared to renew his addresses to Donna
Paltravi."

"I must say," remarked the Mistress of the House, "that although his
action was natural enough, he was in great danger of becoming a
prose-fool."

"You are right, madam," said the gardener, "and Jaqui had some ideas
of that kind himself. But it was of no use. She was an uncommonly
attractive lady now that her mind came to the aid of her body. He knew
that nature was still working hard to make this blooming middle-aged
lady look like the old woman she really was. But love is a powerful
antidote to reason, and this was the first time Jaqui had ever been in
love. When he thought of it at all, he persuaded himself that it did not
matter how old this lady might come to be; he would love her all the
same. In fact, he was sure that if she were to turn young again and
become frivolous and beautiful, his love would not change. It was
getting stronger and stronger every time he saw her."

"What I am thinking about," exclaimed the Daughter of the House, "is
that poor old gentleman in Milan. No matter what the others were doing,
or what they were thinking, they were treating him shamefully, and Jaqui
was not his friend at all."

"You may be right," said her mother; "but, don't you see, this is real
life. You must not forget that, my dear."

John Gayther smiled and went on, and the young lady listened, although
she did not approve. "Jaqui was a handsome man, and could make himself
very agreeable; and it is not surprising that Donna Paltravi became very
much attached to him. He could not fail to see this, and as he was a man
of method, he declared to himself one day that upon the next day, at the
first moment he could find the lady alone, he would propose marriage to
her. He had ceased to think about increase in age and all that. He was
perfectly satisfied with her as she was, and he troubled his mind about
nothing else.

"But early the next day, before he had a chance to carry out his plans,
he received a letter from Dr. Paltravi urging him to come immediately to
Milan. The poor gentleman was sick in his bed, and greatly longed to
see his friend Jaqui. The letter concluded with the earnest request that
Jaqui should not tell Donna Paltravi where he was going, or that he had
heard from the unfortunate writer. Jaqui set off at once, for fear he
should not find his friend alive, and on the way his emotions were
extremely conflicting."

"And very wicked, I have no doubt," said the Daughter of the House. "He
hoped that old man would die."

"There is some truth in what you say, miss," answered John Gayther, with
a proud glance at the Mistress of the House, who was not ashamed to
return it, "for Jaqui could not help thinking that if old Dr. Paltravi,
who could not expect any further happiness in this life, and who must
die before very long anyhow, owing to his age and misfortunes, should
choose to leave the world at this time, it would not only be a good
thing for him, but it would make matters a great deal easier for some
people he would leave behind him. In real life you cannot help such
thoughts as this, miss, unless you are very, very good, far above the
average.

"Jaqui found the old doctor very sick indeed, and he immediately set
about doing everything he could to make him feel better; but
Dr. Paltravi did not care anything about medical treatment. It was not
for that he had sent for Jaqui. What he desired was to make arrangements
for the future of Donna Paltravi, and he wanted Jaqui to carry out his
wishes. In the first place, he asked him to take charge of the lady's
fortune and administer it to her advantage; and secondly, he desired
that he would marry her. 'If I die knowing that the dear woman who was
once my wife is to marry you,' said the sick man, 'and thus be protected
and cared for, I shall leave this world grateful and happy. I can never
do anything for her myself; but if you will take my place, my
friend,--and I am sure Donna Paltravi will easily learn to like
you,--that will be the next best thing. Now will you promise me?' Jaqui
knelt by the side of the bed, took his friend's hand, and promised.
There were tears in his eyes, but whether they were tears of joy or of
sorrow it is not for me to say."

"It is for me, though," said the Daughter of the House, very severely.
"I know that man thoroughly."

The gardener went on with his story: "Jaqui remained several days with
Dr. Paltravi, but he could not do his poor friend any good. The sick man
was nervous and anxious; he was afraid that some one else might get
ahead of Jaqui and marry Donna Paltravi; and he urged his friend not to
stay with him, where he could be of no service, but to go back to
Florence and prepare to marry Donna Paltravi when she should become a
widow. As Jaqui was also getting nervous, being possessed of the same
fears, he at last consented to carry out the old doctor's wishes,--and
his own at the same time,--and he returned to Florence.

"In the meantime Donna Paltravi had been somewhat anxious about Jaqui.
She had conceived a high regard for him, and she could think of no
satisfactory reason why he should go away without saying anything to
her, and stay away without writing. She hoped nothing had occurred which
would interfere with the very agreeable sentiments which appeared to be
springing up between them. This disturbed state of mind was very bad
for a lady in the physical condition of Donna Paltravi. If I may use the
simile of a clock in connection with her apparent age, I should say that
worrying conjecture, had caused some cogs to slip, and that the clock of
her age had struck a good many years since Jaqui's absence.

"When he met her she greeted him warmly, plainly delighted to see him;
but for a moment he was startled. This lady was really very much older
than when he had left her; her hair was nearly gray."

"Served him right!" said the Daughter of the House.

"But when he began to talk to her," continued John Gayther, "his former
feelings for her returned. She was charming, and he forgot about her
hair. Her conversation greatly interested him; and now that his
conscience came to the assistance of his affection (for he was doing
exactly what Dr. Paltravi desired him to do), he was quite happy and
spent a pleasant evening. But in the morning, as he looked at himself in
the mirror, he remembered her gray hair."

At the word "conscience" an indication of a sneer had appeared on the
face of the young lady, but she did not interrupt.

"It was about a week after this that Donna Paltravi sat alone in the
little room on the second floor, and Dr. Jaqui sat alone in the little
room on the first floor. She was waiting for him to come to her, and
he was not intending to go. He believed, with reason, that she was
expecting him to propose marriage to her, and he did not intend to offer
himself. He was very willing to marry a middle-aged lady, but he did
not wish to espouse an old one--at least, an old one who looked her age;
and that Donna Paltravi was going to look her full age in a very short
time Jaqui had now no doubt whatever. Her face was beginning to show a
great many wrinkles, and her hair was not only gray but white in some
places. But these changes did not in the least interfere with her good
looks, for in some ways she was growing more handsome and stately than
she had been before; but our good friend Jaqui--"

"Not my good friend Jaqui, please," interrupted the Daughter of the
House.

"Said to himself," continued John Gayther, "that he did not want a
mother, but a wife. A few weeks before he would have supposed such a
thing impossible, but now a certain sympathy for Florino rose in his
heart. So he did not go up-stairs that evening, and the lady was very
much disturbed and did not sleep well.

"In a few days Jaqui got ready to go away again, and this time he went
to bid the lady good-by. She had heard he was about to take a journey,
and as he greeted her he saw she had been weeping but was quite composed
now. 'Farewell, my friend,' said she. 'I know what is happening to me,
and I know what is happening to you. It will be well for you to stay
away for a time, and when you return you will see that we are to be
very good friends, greatly interested in the progress of science and
civilization.' Then she smiled and shook hands with him.

"Jaqui went to Rome and to Naples, wandering about in an objectless sort
of way. He dreaded to go to Milan, because he had not heard that
Dr. Paltravi was dead, and it would have been very hard for him to have
to explain to the sick man why he had decided not to carry out his
wishes. Apart from the disappointment he would feel when he heard that
Donna Paltravi was not to have the kind guardianship he had planned for
her, the old doctor would be grieved to the soul when he heard his wife
had lost the youth he had taken from her, but which he had expected to
return in full measure. What made it worse for Jaqui was that he could
administer no comfort with the news. He could not sacrifice himself to
please the old man; promise or no promise, this was impossible. He had
not consented to marry an old lady. Again, from the very bottom of his
heart, did Jaqui wish there never had been a lady in a box.

"At last, when he could put it off no longer, he went to Milan; and
there he found Dr. Paltravi still alive, but very low and very much
troubled because he had not heard from Jaqui. The latter soon perceived
it would be utterly useless to try to deceive or in any way to mislead
the old man, who, although in sad bodily condition, still preserved his
acuteness of mind. Jaqui had to tell him everything, and he began with
Florino and ended with himself, not omitting to tell how the lady had
recognized the situation, and what she had said. Then, fearing the
consequences of this revelation, he put his hand into his leathern bag
to take out a bottle of cordial. But Dr. Paltravi waved away medicine,
and sat up in bed.