ou, and sat there with you both in my arms."

Her voice was very husky now; but her words came firmly, and bore the
impress of truth.

"It was then, Richard, that the temptation came; for all at once, as I
looked down upon you both, the thought came, and I shivered. Then all
opened out before me--a bright life, wealth, position, a great future
for the helpless babe I held; and I said why should it not be for my
boy. I shrank from it for a moment, not more. Then it seemed so easy,
so sure, that I did not hesitate. In two minutes you had on the little
master's night-gown, and he wore yours; and I laid _you_, Dick--my boy--
my flesh and blood, in the cradle, and stole downstairs with theirs."

There was a faint rustle amongst the leaves overhead; but no one heeded,
and the woman went on.

"As soon as I got down, shivering with fear, a sort of hysterical fit
came over me, and I got worse; I grew so feverish that I had to lie
down, and I was ill for weeks; but that passed off, and the struggle
began. Ah, Richard, boy, your poor mother bore it all for you--that you
might be rich and happy, while she suffered the tortures of hell; her
heart yearning to take you to her heart, hearing you cry as she lay
awake at nights with a stranger nursed at her breast. But that passed
off when you both grew bigger; and you know how I treated you after, as
I saw you grow up. People said I was hard to Humphrey. Perhaps I was,
but I was never hard to you; and many a night I've cried myself to sleep
with joy, when I have found you loving and affectionate, soothing me for
the jealous tortures I suffered because I could not call you mine. But
I said `no, there is no going back; you have made him, let it be.'"

"And Lloyd?" said Richard, hoarsely--"did he know of this?"

"Yes, I told him, and he would have confessed; but he did not dare. My
boy, when you spoke to me that night in your room--when for the first
time for years I kissed you, I felt that I must tell you all."

"It's monstrous!" cried Richard, and his face looked ten years older.
"But, no; I won't believe it--it can't be true."

"Not true!" exclaimed Mrs Lloyd, with her sallow cheeks flushing. "Ask
your father. Is it so hard," she added, bitterly, "to find that you
have a father and mother alive instead of in the grave?"

"It is impossible!" cried Richard.

"Hush, hold your tongue!" she said, angrily. "You know the secret now--
keep it. What is it to a soul? I ne