"It was God's mercy," she asserted. "But listen again: that other night, when Mr. Bromley was hurt ... After you had gone with the man who came for you, I hurried to find my father, meaning to ask him to send Otto in the little car to see if there was anything we could do. Aunt June said that father was lying down in the library: he was not there. I ran up-stairs. His coat and waistcoat were on the bed, and his mackintosh—the one he always wears when he goes out after sundown—was gone. After a little while he came in, hurriedly, secretly, and he would not believe me when I told him Mr. Bromley was hurt; he seemed to be sure it must be some one else. Then I knew. He had gone out to waylay you on your walk back to the camp, and by some means had mistaken Mr. Bromley for you."
She was in the full flood-tide of the heart-broken confession now, and in sheer pity he tried to stop her.
"Let it all go," he counselled tenderly. "What is done, is done; and now that the work here is also done, there will be no more trouble for you."
"No; I must go on," she insisted. "Since others, who have no right to know, have found out, I must tell you."
"Others?" he queried.
"Yes: Mr. Wingfield, for one. Unlike you, he has not tried to be charitable. He believes——"
"He doesn't love you as I do," Ballard interrupted quickly.
"He doesn't love me at all—that way; it's Dosia. Hadn't you suspected? That was why he joined Aunt Janet's party—to be with Dosia."
"Thus vanishes the final shadow: there is nothing to come between us now," he exulted; and his unhurt arm drew her close.
"Don't!" she shuddered, shrinking away from him. "That is the bitterest drop in the cup of misery. You refuse to think of the awful heritage I should bring you; but I think of it—day and night. When your telegram came from Boston to Mr. Lassley at New York, I was going with the Lassleys—not to Norway, but to Paris, to try to persuade Doctor Perard, the great alienist, to come over and be our guest at Castle 'Cadia. It seemed to be the only remaining hope. But when you telegraphed your changed plans, I knew I couldn't go; I knew I must come home. And in spite of all, he has tried three times to kill you. You know he must be insane; tell me you know it," she pleaded.