de her lie down on the bed, and went
away, promising to come back if I did not find the child; but, if I did,
it was to be carried to my own house, as she was afraid to trust it near
her. With this understanding I left her to search for the little girl.

"She may have crept down to the basement door and be hiding under the
steps, I thought. Of course, the little thing would be afraid to go out
into the streets. So the first thing I did was to run down into the
area. In my haste I had left the door ajar, and bethought myself to go
back and shut it, but while I was searching the area a woman ran up the
steps and, pushing the door open, went into the house.

"At first I thought it was one of the servants, for they all appeared to
be out, but she had on a striped India shawl, such as ladies wore in
travelling, and a straw bonnet, from which the veil had blown back.
These were not things worn by servants; besides, her air and walk
convinced me that this woman was of another class. As she entered the
door I saw her face for a single moment, but long enough to show me that
I had never seen it before.

"The child was not in the area. I rang the basement bell, meaning to
question the servants, but no one answered it. Then I hesitated where to
go next, and as I stood in the shadow of the steps thinking the matter
over, this same woman came through the door, shut it without noise, and
ran down to the pavement. I saw her face clearly then, for the street
lamp was bright. It was that of the woman by your side, Lord Hope."

Rachael Closs turned a pallid face upon her husband.

"Will you permit this woman to go on? Is this hideous lie a thing for
my husband to encourage by his silence? Who is this audacious woman?"

Lord Hope attempted to speak, but his white lips seemed frozen together.

"I am Hannah Yates, the nurse of that murdered lady; the woman who has
given fourteen years of her life, rather than have scandal fall on the
husband her foster-child loved, or the awful truth reach her dear old
mistress, who died, thank God, without knowing it."

"And you listen, my lord, to this woman, a confessed murderer, and, no
doubt, an escaped convict?"

"He _must_ listen, and he must believe! How did I know that he was in my
lady's house that night, and the moment of his leaving it? How did I
know the very words he used in attempting to force the child from her?
No human being but himself and the poor lady, whose lips were cold
with