Miss Lyon smiled haughtily, for all reply.
“That, at least, is well,” mused the young wife.
Anna arose, still flushed and resolute.
“Give me that document of which you spoke, my child,” she said, extending her hand.
Drusilla drew from her bosom the little black silk bag, took from it the piece of paper in question, and laid it before Anna.
Anna read it over, with smiling eyes and a curling lip.
“Does it prove or disprove my marriage?” anxiously inquired Drusilla.
“I cannot tell, Drusilla; I do not know. But so much is certain—your fate, Alick’s, and your unborn child’s, and also my fate and Dick’s—all hang upon this precious little piece of paper, for which I would not take a mint of money,” said Anna, earnestly.
“And yet you cannot tell me whether it proves or disproves my marriage.”
“No; for I am not sufficiently learned in the law,” said Anna, moving towards the door.