He was amazed when he heard the story of Clifford Standish's wickedness.
"I knew the man had a bad heart—his desertion of his wife proved that—but I did not dream he would go to such lengths as you tell me. What must have been your fate had you not met your mother so opportunely?" he exclaimed to Geraldine.
"What, indeed!" she shuddered, and then a low cry from Cissy made her turn her head.
"Look! there is the wretch now!" cried Cissy, excitedly.
They followed her glance, and saw the face of Clifford Standish peering at them from behind a pillar in the orchestra circle.
When their indignant eyes turned on him, he realized that he was being observed, and hastily dodged from sight.
They saw him no more that evening, but when they left the theatre he was near enough to have touched Geraldine with his hand.
He had come to the theatre from his interview with Miss Erroll, and had triumphed over her bitterest prejudices by representing that his wife was dead, and that he really meant to marry Geraldine once he got her into his power.
"I will teach her to love me after marriage," he boasted; and the poor governess, who had once loved him madly, and was still somewhat under the glamour of that old passion, did not doubt his power to win Geraldine's heart. She knew how fascinating he could be when he chose.