She was silent for a moment, seeing that he knew her family history, but she quickly resumed:
"My stepmother is good, too."
"But you cannot understand her, I believe."
"That is not her fault," she replied, with some vehemence.
"Then it is yours?"
"Not that either. It is no one's fault. It is so."
Lucio was immensely struck by her directness of character and generosity. He knew how unhappy Lilian Temple was in her family and how the father, too weak to defend and protect her, preferred to give her plenty of money and a trusty companion in Miss Ford, to let her travel as long as possible.
"You have a very beautiful soul, Lilian," he said, with deep emphasis.
She made no reply; her eyes were veiled with tears.