"Who must never know what?" asked Mrs. Stothard, shortly.
"Paul must never know that Annette is mad. If he finds it out, of course all hope of his marrying her is at an end. And what will he think of me for having deceived him?--of me, his mother, who did it all for his good."
"You must be rational, or it will be impossible to decide upon anything," said Mrs. Stothard, who had relapsed into her grim state. "As to Paul's not knowing, that is sheer nonsense. I told you long ago, it was very unadvisable to have him down here at all. But he is not very observant, and with proper care might have been easily gulled. The girl was getting better, too--that is to say, there was a longer interval between her attacks, and the matter might possibly have been arranged. Now that Mr. George Wainwright has seen her, and is an inmate of the same house with her, that hope is entirely at an end."
"You think so, Martha?"
"I am certain of it."
"Then all my self-sacrifice, all my anxieties and schemings have been thrown away, and I have no further care for life," said Mrs. Derinzy, again bursting into tears.
"You are relapsing into silliness again. Suppose Paul were told of his cousin's illness, do you think he would definitely refuse to marry her?"
"Instantly and for ever," said Mrs. Derinzy.
"What! if the fact were notified by George Wainwright, who at the same time hinted that though Annette had been insane, her disease was much decreased in violence and frequency during the last few years, and in the next few might possibly cease altogether? Would Paul, hearing all this, and urged on by you, give up his notion of the fortune he would enjoy with his wife--Paul, who is, as I have heard say, so fond of pleasure and enjoyment, so imbued with a passion for spending money?"
She paused, and Mrs. Derinzy looked at her in astonishment, then said: