“Yes; that is what happened.”
“And that, whatever may have been his previous intentions, he thereupon changed his mind and wrote the letter, so that you should benefit by the trust.”
“Yes. I promised him to leave the money to Evangeline at my death, that is, if Lady Stableford did not provide for her.”
“Lady Rellingham, isn’t the real fact that Sir John had known you were alive for some five or six years—before he ever made the will which you say was to benefit you?”
“He may, perhaps, have done. He may have seen me, and recognised me, without my knowledge.”
“Lady Rellingham,” said Tempest in his quiet voice as he leaned forward, “isn’t it the fact that Sir John had found out you were alive and living under another man’s name, and he sent for you and sent for Evangeline, and he told you, in her presence, that he knew and had known, but that he was going to respect your secret, if it could be protected, so long as you lived; and that if he died before Evangeline came of age, and that if then Lady Stableford had not provided for her, Evangeline was to be able to claim the money he put in trust; but that, as that would probably result in your secret being disclosed, he gave you the opportunity of providing for Evangeline during your lifetime, so that your secret need not be revealed whilst you were alive? Isn’t that the real fact?”
“No, it is not.”
“Isn’t it the fact that that letter was written for Evangeline and given to her in your presence?”
“No, certainly not.”
“Lady Rellingham, I know your secret. Isn’t what I put to you the fact?”