Mrs. Farnum drew back in well-feigned astonishment.
"Child! are you mad? Sir William Heath your husband? It is simply impossible."
Virgie straightened herself, and yet it seemed as if somebody had suddenly struck her a cruel blow upon her naked heart.
Mrs. Farnum had just told her that for years she had been the most intimate friend of Lady Linton and yet to all appearances she had been literally astounded to learn that Sir William was married.
Could it be possible that her husband had never acknowledged her as his wife to his family?
The thought almost paralyzed her for a moment; then she put it indignantly away from her.
No, he had written letter after letter to his mother and sister—at least he had spoken of so doing, though she had never read them—telling of their marriage, and speaking of their return to Heathdale. Of course his friends must have been apprised of all that had occurred during his absence; still it was very strange that the "most intimate acquaintance of Lady Linton" had not been made acquainted with the fact.
All at once, however, she brightened. Mrs. Farnum had been traveling in America also, for how long she did not know, and perhaps that accounted for it. If she did not correspond with Lady Linton she had no means of knowing of the baronet's marriage.
She even smiled to think how foolish she had been to allow such thoughts to have even for a moment a place in her mind, as she looked up and said:
"No, indeed, Mrs. Farnum, I am not mad, and it is not impossible that I am Sir William Heath's wife. We were married last September, and after the death of my father, who was very ill at the time, we traveled for several months and then came to New York, intending to sail for England the last of May, but were forbidden to do so by my physician, as I have already told you."