"He does."
"Ah!"
"You see he was a good-sized boy when you, a little one of five, came to our home to live as our own child. So we told him the truth, and urged upon him that he should never betray the secret to you."
"And now again I ask, sir, why have you told me to-day, now, at this time?"
Again the question appeared to embarrass the man.
But as the eyes of the young girl were fixed firmly upon him, and he knew that an answer must be given, he said:
"It is because Herbert knew the secret, Jennie."
"Because Herbert knew?"
"Yes."
"He has always known that I was his sister by adoption?"