“Rose instead of Anna! What do you mean?” thundered Mr. Delafield, while I was too much astonished to speak.
Ada was not very deep, and in all her plotting she had never thought how easy it would be for me to prove the falsity of her assertion by writing home; so with the utmost coolness she replied, “I mean this:—there were two Lee girls living at the house of their uncle where I occasionally visited: one was Anna, a young lady of twenty-two or twenty-three, the other was Rose, a school-girl of fourteen or fifteen. The oldest of these two I have every reason to believe stands before us—at least this, which I found upon the stairs, would indicate as much,” and she held to view the handkerchief which I had dropped and had not missed.
Glancing at the name, Mrs. Lansing said, “I have observed a similar mark upon several of her garments, and rather wondered at it.”
This was true, for Anna had dealt generously with me, giving me many of her clothes, some of which bore her full name, while others had merely the initials. I was about to tell of this, when Mr. Delafield prevented me by asking if I could prove that I was what I represented myself to be, and that I was a mere school-girl when I saw Miss Montrose in Boston.
“Yes, sir, I can,” I answered firmly; “by writing home, I can prove it, if in no other way. But Miss Montrose knows better than to confound me with Anna, whom she surely has reason for remembering.”
Fearful lest her darling secret was about to be divulged, Ada roused up and in a tone of angry defiance, answered, “Yes, I have reason for remembering you, for you did me good service by taking off my hands a worthless, drunken fellow, about whom the Bostonians were annoying me. I thank you for it, Miss Lee, and only wonder how you could suppose I would forget you. I recognized you the moment we met at the table, but I did not then dream of your calling yourself eighteen when you are certainly twenty-six!”
I was confounded and remained speechless, while with renewed strength my accuser continued, “Perhaps you will deny having been a teacher at that time, when according to your statement you were only fourteen.”
“No,” I answered, “I do not deny that; I had taught, but I was only thirteen when I did so, as any one at home will testify.”
“Thirteen! how improbable!” exclaimed Mrs. Lansing, while Ada continued, “And what of your engagement with Dr. Clayton. I heard it from the lips of your aunt; but perhaps she told me a falsehood?” and she looked maliciously at me, while with a stamp of his foot Mr. Delafield said sternly, “Ada, you have no right to question her of that.”
“But I am glad she did,” I said, “for as I live, I have never been engaged to any man.”