"And was there any
satisfaction for you in the meeting?"
"Yes, and no. There was a kind of mournful pleasure in seeing the dear
face once more."
"She must have been surprised to see you."
"She was, no doubt, surprised--unpleasantly, perhaps; but she received me
very kindly, and was perfectly frank upon every subject except her
husband. She would tell me nothing about him--neither his position in the
world, nor his profession, if he has one, as I suppose he has. She owned
he was not rich, and that is about all she said of him. Poor girl, I do
not think she is happy!"
"What ground have you for such an idea?"
"Her face, which told me a great deal more than her words. Her beauty is
very much faded since the summer evening when I first saw her in Lidford
Church. She seems to lead a lonely life in the old farm-house to which
her husband brought her immediately after their marriage--a life which
few women would care to lead. And now, John, I want to know how it is you
have kept back the truth from me in this matter; that you have treated me
with a reserve which I had no right to expect from a friend."
"What have I kept from you"
"Your knowledge of this man Holbrook."
"What makes you suppose that I have any knowledge of him?"
"The fact that he is a friend of Sir David Forster's.
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