With these words, Virginia Alexander swept by the stricken woman with a courteous inclination of her head, and went on her way, apparently unruffled by anything that had occurred during the spirited interview with her sworn enemy, Sir William Heath’s sister.
Lady Linton stood for a moment or two utterly motionless, almost paralyzed by the startling revelations which her brother’s former wife had just made to her, and then she, too, tottered from the place, murmuring:
“To think that she, of all persons, should have had that during these years! What a fool I have been! But,” she continued, with an ominous glitter in her steely eyes, “the die is cast—it will now take desperate measures indeed to secure my own safety and accomplish her defeat.”
She returned directly home, for she had neither the strength nor the heart to purchase fashionable gewgaws for Lillian; at least until she had recovered somewhat from the shock she had just received.
Upon her arrival she found still another letter from Sir William awaiting her, and one which filled her with astonishment and put an entirely different aspect upon the future, while a portion, at least, of its contents was calculated to electrify his whole household as well as society at large.
CHAPTER XX.
A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT.
Lady Linton’s letter was handed to her by the butler just as she was sitting down to lunch.
She had come in just as the bell rang, and leaving her bonnet and wraps in the hall, went directly to the dining-room without going, as usual, to her room to make a change in her toilet; she was far too weary and shaken to mount the stairs.
She broke the seal absently, and began to read in a listless, preoccupied way, when all at once she uttered a startled exclamation, and the paper dropped from her nerveless fingers upon the table.
“Why, mamma, what is it? You are as pale as a ghost. Is Cousin William worse or—dead?” exclaimed Lillian, regarding her mother with mingled curiosity and astonishment.