“In the meantime, I, out in California, knew nothing of what was going on in West Virginia until a month after that coroner’s inquest—until one day I met with an old copy of the Pursuivant, in which I read a full account of your supposed fate. Then, my child, I understood, or thought I understood, what had happened—that your death had been caused, directly or indirectly, by the jealous rage of your husband; and I threw up my engagement and traveled as fast as steam could take me to West Virginia and to the presence of Tudor Hereward. I found him the mere shadow of his former self.”
Lilith moaned.
“But I did not pity him in the least! I bitterly upbraided him for having been the cause of your death, as I fully believed him to have been. I am afraid I even became melodramatic over it all, which was very unprofessional off the stage, you know. He never sought to excuse or defend himself. Still I had no mercy on him. I rubbed it into him. To deepen his remorse for his wrong to you, I gave him the secret! What cared I then for any consequences to myself? I gave him the secret!”
“What! You told—you told him—who you were!” exclaimed Lilith.
“No, I did better than that. He might not have believed my word. I told him nothing. But I directed him to the papers in the old trunk for all information and all proof. And then I left him and went to the village hotel and waited for events. But nothing happened, and at last I heard that he had gone to Washington to accept some foreign mission that had been offered him. Then I also left the neighborhood and went to the Southwest. I took no further pains to conceal my identity; yet no evil happened to me. No requisition under the extradition treaty was made for me. But, Lilith, my child, you are cleared from suspicion in the eyes of your husband. He has the secret!”
“Oh, no, he has not!” exclaimed Lilith. “He has not! For those papers to which you referred him for information were not in the house! I brought them away with me when I left Cloud Cliffs.”
“You brought them away with you!”
“Yes, for I would not leave them there to endanger you. So, you see, he does not yet know that I am innocent.”
“I am sorry that he did not find the papers. But, Lilith, my darling, he does know that you are innocent. He came to his senses from the very day in which he lost you. All that I heard about him in his own neighborhood proved his profound sorrow at your loss and his faith in your integrity.”
“And yet he told me——”