{"product_id":"2940013680630","title":"The Past","description":"I had no sooner entered the house than I knew something was wrong.\u003cbr\u003eThough I had never been in so splendid a place before--it was one of\u003cbr\u003ethose big houses just off Fifth Avenue--I had a suspicion from the\u003cbr\u003efirst that the magnificence covered a secret disturbance. I was always\u003cbr\u003equick to receive impressions, and when the black iron doors swung\u003cbr\u003etogether behind me, I felt as if I were shut inside a prison.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I gave my name and explained that I was the new secretary, I was\u003cbr\u003edelivered into the charge of an elderly lady's-maid, who looked as if\u003cbr\u003eshe had been crying. Without speaking a word, though she nodded kindly\u003cbr\u003eenough, she led me down the hall, and then up a flight of stairs at\u003cbr\u003ethe back of the house to a pleasant bedroom in the third storey. There\u003cbr\u003ewas a great deal of sunshine, and the walls, which were painted a soft\u003cbr\u003eyellow, made the room very cheerful. It would be a comfortable place\u003cbr\u003eto sit in when I was not working, I thought, while the sad-faced maid\u003cbr\u003estood watching me remove my wraps and hat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If you are not tired, Mrs. Vanderbridge would like to dictate a few\u003cbr\u003eletters,\" she said presently, and they were the first words she had\u003cbr\u003espoken.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I am not a bit tired. Will you take me to her?\" One of the reasons, I\u003cbr\u003eknew, which had decided Mrs. Vanderbridge to engage me was the\u003cbr\u003eremarkable similarity of our handwriting. We were both Southerners,\u003cbr\u003eand though she was now famous on two continents for her beauty, I\u003cbr\u003ecouldn't forget that she had got her early education at the little\u003cbr\u003eacademy for young ladies in Fredericksburg. This was a bond of\u003cbr\u003esympathy in my thoughts at least, and, heaven knows, I needed to\u003cbr\u003eremember it while I followed the maid down the narrow stairs and along\u003cbr\u003ethe wide hall to the front of the house.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079788904688,"sku":"2940013680630","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013680630_p0.jpg?v=1763584299","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013680630","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}