Mrs. Stanton's lips moved, but no sound passed them. She could not utter the untrue word. Something within her said that it was vain to struggle longer; further concealment was impossible. Yet she shrank from the disclosure that must be made.
"Mother, do you know anything about this will?"
Mrs. Stanton covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.
"Mamma! Then it is so. Tell me—where is it?"
No reply. Mrs. Stanton began to sob.
"Mamma, I must know." There was sternness in Aldyth's voice now. "You have not destroyed the will?"
"No, no; not that!" cried Mrs. Stanton, excitedly. "Nothing so bad as that. You will think it very wrong, I know; but I did it for the best."
"What did you do for the best?" asked Aldyth, trying hard to control herself, but with an inevitable hardness in her manner. "You found the will, I suppose. What have you done with it?"
"Yes, I found it," sobbed Mrs. Stanton, "and I have not had a happy moment since. It is up there, Aldyth. You were near it just now. In the travelling desk."
In another minute, Aldyth had the desk in her hands.