“A relation?”
“A near relation,” she repeated solemnly. “I say it is the greatest trial I have to put up with that she should go about as she does, and lead the dishonest career she does, and that the likeness between us should be so strong that not you only, but two or three more of my friends have seen her and have thought—what you thought,” she added quickly.
He tried to look as if he believed her, but failed.
“And you say her name is Maud Smith?”
“No, I said she called herself so. Her real name, unfortunately, is much more like mine. So far she has escaped detection and conviction, though often only by the skin of her teeth. Until she is taken up and convicted I suppose I shall be exposed constantly to the same annoyance of having her mistaken for me.”
“But won’t it be a great scandal for the family?”
“Not necessarily. Her real name might not come out. But even if it did, I think it would be better than for me to suffer the constant misery of being mistaken myself for a pickpocket, and by people who ought to know me better,” she ended with a flash of anger.
Gerard hung his head, but he could not feel very guilty.
“The resemblance is indeed extraordinary,” he murmured.
She shook her head with a bitter little laugh.