She sat like a statue, scarce seeming to breathe; there was not the slightest color in her face or lips, and the expression of agony about her mouth reveiled something of the fearful suffering she was enduring, while there was a look in her eyes which her companion never forgot.
She did not move for several minutes after Mrs. Farnum ceased reading; it was as if she had suddenly been turned to stone, and was oblivious of everything.
Mrs. Farnum was awed by her appearance, and hardly dared to speak to her, lest, in breaking the spell, the girl should drop dead at her feet.
But all at once Virgie started; some thought seemed to have come to her—something that made her doubt that the dreadful tidings to which she had listened were true.
The letter had spoken of "Will" and "William," to be sure, and she had every reason to suppose that it had referred to the man whom she had believed to be her husband—still there might be a mistake. She grasped at the straw with the eagerness of a drowning man.
"Of whom is Lady Linton speaking in her letter, as having been—married?" she demanded, in a hollow voice, and fixing her burning eyes upon her companion's face.
"Why, of William Heath, of course," returned Mrs. Farnum, greatly relieved to hear her speak once more, "and I have known him all my life. I used to visit at Heathdale a great deal before Lady Linton's marriage, and he was always a favorite of mine. He was a bright, manly fellow, and his friends have planned great things for him. I—I can hardly credit what you have told me to-day. I did not dream he could do anything so wrong; but doubtless he will settle down now, and I shall expect to see him a member of Parliament; he has everything in his favor."
"Who is—Margie?" Virgie asked, in the same tone as before, though she had shivered at the last words of Mrs. Farnum; they were bitterly cruel.
"Why, Margaret Stanhope—one of the loveliest girls in Hampshire County. She and Will have been engaged for years. You remember that Lady Linton spoke of their always having been 'pleased with the prospect of the match.'"
"Oh!" gasped Virgie, clasping her hands over her aching heart, and for a moment everything seemed to fade from her vision, and a great darkness to envelop her.