"Is she your sister?"
Zillah seemed startled.
"I do not wish to intrude into your confidence--I only ask this to gain some light while I am groping in the dark."
"She is not. She is no relation. But she has lived with me all my life, and is the same as a sister."
"Does she treat you as her equal?"
"Yes," said Zillah, with some hesitation, "that is--of late."
"But you have been her superior until of late?"
"Yes."
"Would you have any objection to tell her name?"
"Yes," said Zillah; "I can not tell it. I will tell this much: Lorton is an assumed name. It belongs neither to her nor to me. My name is not Lorton."