“I do know.”
“What!”
The kindest thing that he could do now was to speak out. “Your secret is no secret to me,” he said.
Rage and fear shook her together. For the moment she was like the Mrs. Ellmother of former days. “You lie!” she cried.
“I speak the truth.”
“I won’t believe you! I daren’t believe you!”
“Listen to me. In Emily’s interests, listen to me. I have read of the murder at Zeeland—”
“That’s nothing! The man was a namesake of her father.”
“The man was her father himself. Keep your seat! There is nothing to be alarmed about. I know that Emily is ignorant of the horrid death that her father died. I know that you and your late mistress have kept the discovery from her to this day. I know the love and pity which plead your excuse for deceiving her, and the circumstances that favored the deception. My good creature, Emily’s peace of mind is as sacred to me as it is to you! I love her as I love my own life—and better. Are you calmer, now?”
He heard her crying: it was the best relief that could come to her. After waiting a while to let the tears have their way, he helped her to rise. There was no more to be said now. The one thing to do was to take her back to the house.