"Four! Who were they?"
Mrs. Farnum asked this question in a somewhat disappointed tone, for if the young wife could bring four witnesses to prove her marriage, Lady Linton might well tremble for the success of her plots, though Nevada was a long distance from England, and there might be some difficulty in producing them.
"My father"—a sob checked Virgie's utterance as she mentioned him, and realized how forlorn her condition would be if the horrible suspicions which were being sown in her mind should prove true—"the clergyman who performed the ceremony, a woman who lived near us, and our own servant."
"Then, since you have no tangible proof in your own hands that you are Sir William Heath's lawful wife, I advise you to communicate with those witnesses without delay, since their testimony alone will serve to establish your rights and—those of your child," Mrs. Farnum said, with a solemnity that struck a fearful chill to Virgie's heart.
"My child!"
It was a startled, anguished cry, and all the mother-love and anxiety was instantly aroused for her little one.
Was it possible that anything was threatening the honor and future happiness of her child, who, next to its father, was at once her pride and idol?
"Oh!" she cried, pressing her hands to her throbbing temples, "why will you talk so in riddles? If you have anything to tell me, in pity speak out before I lose my reason!"
"Wait one moment, and I will bring you a letter which I have recently received, and when I have read it to you, you will understand why I have been so skeptical regarding what you have told me, and why I have questioned you so closely."
With these words, Mrs. Farnum arose and left the room, while Virgie, almost stunned by the fearful suspicions which had been so artfully thrust upon her, and feeling almost as if a knife had been driven through her heart, sank nerveless and trembling into a chair to await her return.