He looked at the white, agonized face of the girl, and repeated his question:
"Tell me what this man and woman are to you."
"I cannot tell you, Mr. Stuart," she replied, falteringly.
"You mean you will not," he said, studying her downcast face, with grave, attentive eyes.
"I cannot," she replied. "It is a secret that belongs to others. I cannot betray confidence."
A baffled look came into his troubled, marble-white face.
"Do you mean to preserve an utter incognito among us?" he asked.
"I must," she answered, while great, trembling tears started beneath her drooping lashes. "I can say no more than what I have told you already. I am homeless, friendless, nameless!"
"How old are you?" he inquired.
"I was sixteen years old but a few days ago," she answered.