They made no answer to the wild ravings she uttered, because they could not understand them, and she continued despairingly:
“I cannot marry you, my own, my only love, because I am not free. A terrible obstacle has arisen between us.”
Mrs. Howard gave a violent start. The words of the maniac prince, as she deemed him, then came to her mind:
“I am an outraged husband who has taken vengeance into his own hands. This woman is my wife!”
With her passionate, loving soul quivering in her mournful voice, the girl went on:
“Bayard, you must not judge me too hardly when you know all. I was so young, so ignorant, and my training had helped to lead me into that fatal error.”
Suddenly he spoke, in a faint voice:
“Fair, you are driving me mad. What horrible thing is it that you are going to tell me?”
“It was my life, not yours, that man sought to-night,” she said.
“I know that, child,” impatiently; “but why, unless he was a lunatic, did he attempt your life?”