"Can you wonder, dear? How could he help being appalled when he remembered the treatment you had received while you were a member of his family?"
"It all seems very wonderful!" said the fair girl, thoughtfully, "and the fact of your being in the house at the same time, seems strangest of all!"
"It was a very bold thing to do, I admit," responded Mrs. Stewart; "but the case demanded some risk on my part—I was determined to get hold of that certificate, if it was in existence. I thought it better to employ strategy, rather than come into open controversy with them, as I wished to avoid all publicity if possible. I firmly believe that, if Anna Correlli had suspected that I was still alive, she would have destroyed the document rather than allow it to come into my possession."
"But you could have proved your marriage, through Mr. Forsyth, even if she had," Edith interposed.
"Yes; but it would have caused a terrible scandal, for Mr. Goddard would have had to answer to the charge of bigamy; while the publicity I should have had to endure would have been exceedingly disagreeable to me. If, however, I had failed in my plans I should not have hesitated to adopt bold measures—for I was determined, for your sake as well as my own, to have proof that I was a legal wife and my child entitled to bear the name of her father, even though he might be unworthy of her respect."
"How did you happen to discover where the certificate was concealed?" Edith inquired.
"Do you remember, dear, the day when you came upon me, sitting faint and weary on the back stairs, and insisted that I should exchange work with you?" her companion questioned, with a fond smile.
"Yes, indeed, but I little thought that it was my own mother who was so worn out by performing such unaccustomed labor," the young girl responded, as she raised the hand she was holding and touched her lips softly to it.
"Neither of us had a suspicion of the tie between us," returned Mrs. Stewart; "and yet, from the moment that you entered the house, I experienced an unaccountable fondness for you."
"And I was immediately impressed that there was something very mysterious about you—our portly housekeeper," Edith smilingly replied.