"Sorrier than sorry! What other relative have I in the wide world but you?"
"Not one, Mollie. But I am a relative you need hardly grieve for. I have been a bad, cruel woman—the worst woman that ever lived to you, my poor little girl!"
"Miriam!"
"Ah! don't look at me with those innocent, wondering blue eyes! You shall know all. I can't die with my story untold, my secret unrevealed. Mrs. Slimmens, I have something very particular to say to this young lady. Please to leave us alone."
The woman, with a disappointed look, rose up and quitted the room.
Mollie drew up the only chair and seated herself by the bedside.
"Did you come here alone?" was Miriam's first question, when they were together.
"No," said Mollie, coloring slightly. "Mr. Ingelow came with me. He is waiting below."
"That is well. It is growing late, and the neighborhood is not a good one. He saved you, did he not?"
"He did. I owe him my life—my liberty."