“For twelve years, Sir Gordon, I have had the face of that loving, trusting woman before me, steadfast in her faith in the husband she loves.”
“Loves?”
“As truly as on the day she took him first to her heart.”
“But do you think that she really still believes him innocent?”
“In her heart of hearts; and so does her child. And I say that this is the one painful part of our intimacy. It has been the cause of coldness and even distant treatment at times.”
“But she seemed to have exonerated you from all credit in his arrest.”
“Oh, yes, long ago. She attributes it to the accident of chance and the treachery of the scoundrel Crellock.”
“Who was only Hallam’s tool.”
“Exactly. But she forgives me, believing me her truest friend.”
“And rightly. The man who fought for her at the time of the—er—well, accident, Bayle, eh?”