"'Then why did you tell your mother you had been with me?'
"'Because I did not wish her to know where I had been,' I replied.
"She kissed me, and said, sadly:
"'You have secrets even from me, then?'
"And I answered:
"'Yes.'
"She looked very unhappy.
"'Estelle,' she said, 'I hope I have not been foolish, and aided you in folly?'
"But I would not listen to her—I only laughed. After that Lady Agnes became more cautious. I do not know whether she had any suspicion or not—she never expressed any to me.
"After that I found more difficulty in meeting my husband. Oh! wretched story! How I loathe the telling of it! He grew impatient and angry, while, as the days passed on, I shrank with greater dread from letting my parents know what I had done.