To her surprise, the lawyer, instead of sharing her sorrow, actually smiled.
"Helen," he said; "I have a great surprise for you. A friend has accompanied me here. He called at your house to-day, but you had just left, so he called on me. You have not seen him since he sailed away three months ago on the Mauretania."
She listened bewildered. Her color came and went. What did he mean? Could it be possible that—no, had not Keralio said he was dead? Trembling with suppressed emotion, she whispered:
"Tell me—what is it—tell me——"
For all reply, the lawyer went to the door and beckoned to someone who had waited in the outer hall. A moment later a man entered, a tall, well set figure that was strangely familiar. Straining her eyes through her tears, it seemed to her that her mind must be playing her some trick, for there before her, stood Kenneth, not the impostor her instinct had warned her to detest and avoid, but the real Kenneth she had loved, the father of her child. With a joyous exclamation, she tottered forward.
"Kenneth!" she cried.
The man, his athletic form broken by sobs, opened his arms.
"My own precious darling!"
A moment later they were clasped in each other's arms. Ah, now she knew that he had come home! This, indeed, was the husband she loved. There was no deception this time. Wonderingly, she turned to Steell.
"How did it happen?" she asked wonderingly.