'Will you come and sit down?' said Sidwell, pointing to a chair not far from that on which one of her hands rested.
He moved forward, and was about to pass near her, when Sidwell involuntarily held her hand to him. He took it and gazed into her face with a melancholy smile.
'What does it mean?' she asked, in a low voice.
He relinquished her fingers, which he had scarcely pressed, and stood with his arms behind his back.
'Oh, it's all quite true,' was his reply, wearily spoken.
'What is true?'
'All that you have heard from your brother.'
'All?—But how can you know what he has said?'
They looked at each other. Peak's lips were set as if in resistance of emotion, and a frown wrinkled his brows. Sidwell's gaze was one of fear and appeal.
'He said, of course, that I had deceived you.'