“Because I was determined she should divulge to me a secret of her own.”
“What secret?”
“One that concerns my whole future.”
“Cannot you tell me what it is?” she asked, looking into his face, which in the moonlight she saw was much changed, for it was unusually pale and haggard.
“I—well—at the present moment I am myself mystified, darling. Hence I cannot explain the truth,” he replied. “Will you trust me if I promise to tell you the whole facts as soon as I have learnt them? One day I hope I shall know all, yet——”
“Yes—yet—what?”
He drew a deep breath.
“The poor unfortunate lady has lost her reason as the result of the attempt upon her life. Therefore, after all, I may never be in a position to know the truth which died upon her lips.”
For nearly two hours the pair remained together. Often she was locked in her lover’s arms, heedless of everything save her unbounded joy at his return, and of the fierce, passionate caresses he bestowed upon her. Truly, that was a night of supreme delight as they held each other’s hands, and their lips met time after time in ecstasy.
He inquired about George Sherrard, but she said little. She hesitated to tell him of the incident while fishing that morning, but merely said: