He raised his haggard eyes to her face.
"Mattie!" he said, in a low, hoarse voice. "Doris is dead!"
She grew very pale, but no word passed her lips; she saw that so much would depend on her; she must not lose her self-control for one minute.
"Doris is dead!" he repeated; "and that is not all—she has been foully, terribly murdered! and she was to have been married to-day!"
She was quite silent for some minutes, trying to realize the meaning of his words; then her old prayer stole to her lips:
"We must try to spare Earle," she said. "Heaven save Earle!"
Lord Linleigh caught hold of her.
"Mattie," he said, in a low, gasping voice, quite unlike his own, "I have not realized yet that it is my child, Doris; I can only understand a murder has been done. Have I lost my reason?"
"No. You must be brave," she said. "Think of Lady Linleigh. Such a blow is enough to kill her."
His head fell on his hands, with a low moan.