"Fiend!" exclaimed Hannah. "You shall not talk to me thus. What have you done with my boy?"
"I have done well by him," answered the man. "He has been reared as a gentleman. No stain has ever been suspected on his birth."
"Where is he?" asked she, in a voice trembling with emotion.
"He is near you. I left him but an hour ago, well and happy."
"Near me!" said the woman almost wildly. "It cannot be—you lie to me, Herbert!"
"By the heavens above, I utter the solemn truth!" returned the man.
"What name does he bear?"
The man bowed his tall form and whispered in her ear. She sprang to her feet, paced hurriedly to and fro down the little alcove, and at length threw herself on her knees and exclaimed,
"O, let me see him! Can you be so cruel as to withhold the child from his mother's right?"
"It rests with you to decide whether you see him or no," said the man, wholly unmoved by her distress and emotion. Swear to keep my presence here a secret, and do my bidding in all things, and you may see your boy when you choose."