“What can you do to me?” asked Lady Dudleigh.
“You? Arrest you.”
“What have I done?”
“You? You have done every thing. You have aided and abetted the escape of an outlaw. You have assisted him in his nefarious occupation of Dalton Hall. You have aided and abetted him in the imprisonment of Dalton's brat. You have aided and abetted him in the murder of my boy Leon. You have—”
“Stop!” cried Lady Dudleigh, in a stern, commanding voice. “You have been a villain always, but you have never been so outspoken. Who are you? Do you know what happened ten years ago?”
“What?” asked Sir Lionel. “Do you mean Dalton's forgery, and his assassination of that—that banker fellow?”
Lady Dudleigh smiled grimly.
“I am glad that you said that,” said she. “You remove my last scruple. My brother's wrongs have well-nigh maddened me; but I have hesitated to bear witness against my husband, and the father of my children. I shall remember this, and it will sustain me when I bear my witness against you in a court of law.”
“Me?” said Sir Lionel. “Me? Witness against me? You can not. No one will believe you.”
“It will not be only your wife,” said she, “though that will be something, but your own self, with your own hand.”