hing for a long time.

"Weeks passed before I recovered. Then I was told my baby had been born
and died. I listened in a sort of dull apathy; I had suffered so much
that the sense of suffering was dulled and blunted. I knew Vyking well
enough not to trust him or believe him; but I was powerless to act, and
could only turn my face to the wall and pray to die.

"But I grew strong, and Vyking took me to London, and left me in
respectably-furnished lodgings. I might have escaped easily enough here,
but the energy even to wish for freedom was gone; I sat all day long in
a state of miserable, listless languor, heart-weary, heart-sick,
worn-out.

"One day Vyking came to my rooms in a furious state of passion. He and
his master had quarrelled. I never knew about what; and Vyking had been
ignominiously dismissed. The valet tore up and down my little parlor in
a towering passion.

"'I'll make Sir Noel pay for it, or my name's not Vyking,' he cried. 'He
thinks because he's married an heiress he can defy me now. But there's
law in this land to punish bigamy; and I'll have him up for bigamy the
moment he's back from his wedding-tour.'

"I turned, and looked at him, but very quietly. 'Sir Noel?' I said. 'Do
you mean my husband?'

"'I mean Miss Vandeleur's husband now,' said Vyking. '_You'll_ never see
him again, my girl. Yes, he's Sir Noel Thetford, of Thetford Towers,
Devonshire; and you can go and call on his pretty new wife as soon as
she comes home.'

"I turned away and looked out of the window without a word. Vyking
looked at me curiously.

"'Oh! we've got over it, have we; and we're going to take it easy, and
not make a scene. Now that's what I call sensible. And you'll come
forward and swear Sir Noel guilty of bigamy?'

"'No,' I said, 'I never will!'

"'You won't--and why not?'

"'Never mind why. I don't think you would understand if I told you--only
I won't.'

"'Couldn't you be coaxed?'

"'No.'

"'Don't be too sure. Perhaps I could tell you something might move you,
quiet as you are. What if I told you your baby did not die that time,
but was alive and well?'

"I knew a scene was worse than useless with this man, tears and
entreaties thrown away. I heard his last words, and started to my feet
with outstretched hands.

"'Vyking, for the dear Lord's sake, have pity on a desolate woman, and
tell me the truth.'

"'I am telling you the truth. Your boy is alive and well, and I've
christened him Guy--Guy Vyk