"If ever I loved anything on earth," she cried, passionately, "it was my husband—I have known no other love."
"What is that you want me to do?" asked Earle.
"I want you to go and find her. No one loves her as you do. Love has keen instincts; you will find her because you love her. Find her—tell her she is the Earl of Linleigh's daughter—that she must come to take her proper position in the great world; but do not tell her who is her mother."
"I will obey you implicitly," he replied.
Then she raised her fair, proud face to his.
"Mine is a strange story, is it not?" she asked.
"Yes—truth is stranger than fiction," he replied.
"And it is a shameful story, is it not?" she continued.
"It is not a good one," he said, frankly.
She smiled at the honest reply.