"I too have a confession to make, if you love me, and wish me to be your wife."
"Otherwise?"
"I shall keep my counsel; it would not interest you."
"Let me tell you something first," he said.
"As you please, confidence for confidence," she said with a faint smile.
"I have not always lived a decent life," he said. "I once committed a crime, I paid the penalty, I was sent to prison, to Dartmoor."
She started again, a look of fear was in her eyes.
"When I told you I was mining on Dartmoor it was not true; I worked on Dartmoor, but it was as a prisoner. I was in the same gang as Mr. Woodridge's brother."
"You were," she said in a hollow voice, wondering why he told her this.
"Yes, poor fellow. I never saw a man so broken down in my life; his face haunted me. I said something about it before, you may remember."