"Impossible, Mr. Allen! How can you marry the daughter of your father's murderer?"
"That is just it, nurse; Dora is not the daughter of Carew, but of Julian Dargill."
"Oh, she was adopted by Mr. Dargill, I know," said Mrs. Tice, still unconvinced, "and was called by his name in Christchurch. Why he changed her name to Carew I do not know, though, to be sure, she was his ward, and not his daughter, and Carew was her real name."
"So we all thought," said Dora impetuously; "but we have just discovered that I am really and truly the daughter of Mr. Dargill and his wife Laura. Listen, Mrs. Tice, and I'll tell you the story."
The narrative greatly surprised Mrs. Tice, who was forced to sit down and lift up her hands in her surprise. She was forced to believe that Dora was Dargill's daughter by Laura Carew's second marriage, and--as Mrs. Tice mentally noted--illegitimate, owing to Carew still being alive after her birth. But the housekeeper was too wise and kind-hearted to touch upon so delicate a point.
"Deary, deary me!" she ejaculated. "And no one knew it in Christchurch! I never saw you myself, Miss Dora, or I should have known that so young a child could not have been the daughter of a man dead over a year. I am surprised no one else guessed it. How blind we all are!"
"Oh, you may be sure Lady Burville told some story to account for the appearance and size of the child," said Allen cynically. "She is an adept at trickery. But I cannot understand, Dora, why she did not tell you the name of your real father."
"She did not wish to inculpate herself more than was necessary," said Dora, in a bitter tone. "She told me she was my mother only because she believed I would denounce her as guilty of the crime. And you know those letters Pallant wanted, Allen? Well, I have no doubt that those were the letters she wrote to Edermont--I can hardly bring myself to call him father--giving him permission to take me to live with him. Probably he paid her for doing so."
"After all, she is your mother, Miss Dora," said Mrs. Tice reprovingly.
"She has not acted a mother's part," retorted Dora. "She deserted me, she deceived me, she lied to me; I never wish to set eyes on her again."