"Yes. Mrs. Carew, Mrs. Dargill, Lady Burville--whatever you like to call her. I know her story, Allen, and what she failed to relate Mrs. Tice told. I know that my father killed yours, and that we can never marry."
"Lady Burville--your mother told you this!" he stammered; "and I was so careful to hide the truth from you!"
"I know you spared me, in the goodness of your heart, Allen, but it was better that I should know the truth. Yes, I went up to town; I restored the pearl brooch to Lady Burville--I cannot call her my mother--and I heard her story."
"Dora!" Allen seized her hand again. "Did your mother kill Mr. Edermont?"
"No. Thank God, she is innocent of that crime!"
"Then how was it I found her brooch by the dead body?"
"She dropped it in the room when she went to see Mr. Edermont on that night."
"But why did she see Edermont?"
"He sent for her to deliver up a packet of letters she had written to him. It is a long story, Allen, and a sad one. Listen, and I will tell you all."
Allen signified his desire to hear the story, and listened eagerly while she told him what her mother had related. To make the information complete, Dora passed on to the history of the murder, as told by Mrs. Tice. When she finished, and Allen was in possession of all the facts, she waited for him to comment thereon. This he was not long in doing.