"Never, so help me God!"
He took her in his arms and kissed her tears away. She did not repulse him this time, but clung to him like one returned from the dead.
"Oh, my husband! my husband!" was all that she could say. "Now that I know you love me still, I can bear anything. Tell me, Cuthbert, all that has happened? Don't spare me."
Without more ado he told her everything—who Murkard really was; how Merton had cherished such a deadly hatred of him; the loss of the pearl; Merton's return to the island, and all the events connected with that fatal night. With the exception of the murder he told her everything. When he had finished, she said;
"And Murkard—where is he? My thanks are due to him."
"He will never receive them, dearest. He is dead."
"Dead!" she cried, in horrified amazement. "Oh, this is too horrible! How did he die?"
"Merton killed him in the store."
Her head dropped on to her hands, and again she sat white and trembling.
"A thief and a murderer, and what did he want to make me?"