"Of course: that is why I am here. But I refer to the interview at my Marlow cottage. Then, I was not bound to speak. I speak now. There was not any child with Miss Morse when she died at my Wimbledon house. But with her last breath she told me where she had left the child--in a poor neighbourhood and with a poor woman."
"Who was very good to me," said Maud, with tenderness very well acted. "Dear Mrs. Tait, shall I ever forget her kindness?"
"Tait. Humph. So that's the name, is it?"
"The name of my foster-mother who brought me up. For years I have been called Maud Ellis, but only when Mr. Hale came to see me bringing the cross did I learn my true name and parentage."
"Why did your foster-mother call you Ellis?" asked Jabez.
"She passed me off to the world as her sister's child," said Maud glibly.
"Why? I cannot see the need."
"Nor I," said Miss Ellis, with a swift glance at Hale. "But who knows the human heart, Mr. Jabez?"
"No one so far as I know. But you were saying----"
"If you will permit me to tell my story I can make everything clear."