“And you are so young! Only seventeen! How long have you loved this man, my dear?” compassionately inquired the lady.
“How long? As long as I have lived, I think. I do not remember the time when I did not love Tudor Hereward as I love my Lord. It was my religion to love him. I was brought up to worship God, and to adore Tudor Hereward. Under the Almighty, he was my lord, my law-giver. This love was my life,” murmured Lilith, in a low, thrilling, pathetic voice.
“Who trained you to this idolatry?”
“His father—my foster-father.”
Again silence fell between the two.
At length the baroness inquired:
“My dear, will you tell me how you came to be the foster-daughter of the late Major Hereward? But do not do so if you would rather not.”
“I have no objection,” answered Lilith.
And in a few brief words she told the story of her adoption as it is known to the reader.
“I am half inclined to retract all that I have said of Tudor Hereward. It may be that revenge did not enter into his scheme of marrying a child whom he did not love. It may be that he was actuated solely by the wish to please his father and to pay a sacred debt,” said the baroness.