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BY ORDER OF THE CZAR. 213

distress in her own sweet native vale of Acushla. And so the evening passed away with music, love, and pleasant talk ; and the Venetian trip and studio, and the future of Philip looked as rosy as his mother and their dearest belongings could desire.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE COUNTESS, THE JEWS, AND THE GONDOLIER.

BUT Lady Stravensky had to be reckoned with in the Phi- lip and Dolly business. The Jewish woman of Czarovna held a brief from Fate in regard to Lady Forsyth's pleasant calculations of matrimonial happiness and prosperity for her son. None of them knew or suspected how nearly the fortunes of the countess touched theirs. It was a bad day for Philip when he saw that face at the Opera. How far it was bad for Dolly and her sister Jenny, for Walter Mil- banke and other persons in this drama of life, remains to be seen. The narrator is perfectly well aware what is *o happen to Philip, and what must be the end of the coun- tess.

These things are foreshadowed by those who read be- tween the lines as well as on them. But Dolly Norcott floats gaily along the stream, and who knows where she shall find a port, or what it will be like ? She has charm- ing qualities. One would like her to be happy. For that matter, Philip Forsyth is not undeserving of good fortune, but surely he is destined to have trouble. He dreams dreams. He mixes his professional ambition with his love. He is not stable. His impulses are fine. He is constant while he is with Dolly ; but on his way home he sees visions of the poetic face of the countess, her violet eyes, her deep-red hair. She is the central figure of his unwrit-