Not till her words of self immolation reached their ears, did any one present dream of the possibility of her ignorance regarding the validity of her marriage, but now Dr. Seward sprang to his feet and lifted her tenderly from the carpet to a sofa, while he explained as clearly as possible, the result of his investigations.
"My poor girl," he said gently, "why are you so distressed? Is it possible that you have been deceived in this matter? You are indeed the lawful wife of Lawrence Maynard. I have proven the validity of that marriage by the clergyman himself. There is no reason why you should not look us all in the face, and with your help we shall soon be able to probe this matter to the bottom."
For a few moments Elizabeth could hardly believe the welcome words. She looked eagerly from one to the other for confirmation of the blessed fact, then, as her eyes rested finally upon her baby's face, she fell upon her knees at Mrs. Sinclair's feet and sobbed for very happiness.
As quietly as possible, Stella rose, and taking little Elsa in her arms, carried her gently from the room and out of the sound of her mother's hysterical weeping.
A hard thing it is to recall to another The seeds of wrong doing our brother has sown But harder it is, our proud spirits to smother And confess to a harvest so largely our own.
It was long past midnight before the ladies thought of retiring, so great was the excitement consequent upon the evening's revelations. But at last the Doctor and Sir Frederic were left alone. The fire was growing dim, but neither of the gentlemen thought to have it replenished. The physician's mind was so intent upon the identity of Lawrence Maynard that it seemed at last to react with unconscious cerebration upon the thoughts of Sir Frederic, for he paced the room thoughtfully a few moments, then pausing directly before his companion, said anxiously, "Dr. Seward, have you any theory whatever regarding this man,--this imposter?"
Like one confronted by the utterance of his own private thoughts Dr. Seward started and was for a moment embarrassed, but controlling himself, he said briefly, "Yes, Sir Frederic, I have a theory, but it is so vague and so intensely disagreeable that I dread to give it utterance."