"But why? Why?" pleaded Moira, a glimmering of the intrigue coming to her.
Jim Horton turned away again.
"Because it was necessary that the Duc de Vautrin should remain in ignorance of it."
"Holy Virgin! You mean that Nora——?"
"Nora Burke and Barry Quinlevin. You were of the same age as the child of the Duc de Vautrin. There were few neighbors. Your mother had also died in childbirth. Nora Burke came into Barry Quinlevin's house as nurse."
"Oh, it is impossible!" gasped Moira. "I can't—I can't believe it."
"It is what I'm to help you to prove."
"But there must be papers—birth certificates—witnesses——"
"Perhaps. I don't know, Moira. All of these things seem uncertain. The idea is that Barry Quinlevin, taking pity on the fatherless child of the Duc, and mourning his own child that had died, had brought the little girl into his own house to keep her until the Duc's return——"
"Oh! It is infamous!"