"Yes, my dear lady—most cruelly deceived!" exclaimed Celine.
"But she has certainly been kind to the child. Else Ruby would have complained," said Mrs. Desmond in perplexity.
"Oh, yes, she was kind to the child, I admit, but it was all for a blind. And all the—all the while—oh, Mrs. Desmond, if you could only understand without my telling it," cried Celine, breaking off abruptly, with an appearance of grief and reluctance.
The passionate, jealous heart of the listener caught the artful bait instantly.
She gasped for breath, her brilliant face whitened to a marble pallor, and she caught at the back of a chair to steady herself.
If Celine had not been utterly selfish and pitiless she must have retracted her cruel lie in the face of that utter despair on the beautiful face of her mistress. But the greed of gold overpowered every other consideration in her base mind.
"Celine," the startled woman broke out, "do you mean to say that—my husband——" she paused, and her blazing eyes searched the woman's face.
"Your husband loves her—alas, yes, my poor, deceived mistress," cried the maid. "The deceitful creature has won his heart from you."
There was a moment's silence while Mrs. Desmond groped blindly in her mind for some tangible proof on which to pin her faith in her beloved husband.