"'I must have money. I will have my portion of the estate. By fair means or foul, I will have what I want.'"
"I could not get away from him till I had given him my purse and every jewel I had about me, and had promised to meet him at night in a retired part of our grounds,—I thought I could steal away unobserved.
"Perhaps I could have done so but for the servant, who was afterwards discovered to be a spy my husband had set upon me, who told him of the strange meeting as soon as we returned home. He had never heard my brother's name, and must have wondered at my conduct.
"I went instantly to my chamber, where Mr.— soon joined me, coming to the couch where I lay, and gazing in my face with such marks of agony as I could not account for.
"At that moment my love came upon me with all its fervor. I put up my arms and drew him down to me, and wept on his shoulder. I kissed him repeatedly, and did not notice at the time that my caresses were not returned. I was so exhausted by what had passed that I fell asleep. I woke, shouting,—
"Henreich! O Henreich, go away! Why did you come back?'
"'Who is Henreich?' My husband's voice was so stern, so unnatural, that it frightened me. In one instant I realized that if I said, 'He is my brother,' he would not believe in the existence of one of whom he had never heard. Indeed, my father often spoke of me as his only child. If he did believe me, Henreich would be discovered, and my father's name disgraced; for, from what I had seen, I was sure his life had become wholly corrupt. These thoughts flashed through my mind, as my husband stood with blanched face and eyes protruding looking into mine. Would that I had explained all to him! I am sure love for me was struggling in his breast with the contempt he imagined I deserved; but I did not explain. I resolved that I would give all the money I could raise to my brother, and send him away; that when he was out of reach I would tell my husband the whole story, under a promise from him of secrecy.'"
Mrs. Douglass hid her face in her hands, unable to proceed.
Tears were trickling down Marion's cheeks.
"Perhaps I am doing wrong to tell you all this, Miss Howard. You blame me for my want of frankness, but not half so much as I deserve, and you will see that I have been terribly punished. I stole from the house at the hour I had promised to meet my brother, with a large sum of money in my hand, and a letter in which I told him it was the last time I would help him. I begged him to go away, and begin a life of honesty and virtue I signed myself your affectionate sister.