The woman you have married
is----his wife. Stop, sir!--do not strike me!--listen! I know the truth
of every thing now. She talked with him for an hour under the big
cedar, near the parsonage last night. He will see her again to-night,
and in this house--hear me to the end, sir! You will not harm him; you
will care nothing for all this; you will not know it, for you will be
dead, sir!'
"At these words I must have turned deadly pale, for Nighthawk hastened
to my side, and placed his arm around me to support me. But I did not
need his assistance. In an instant I was as calm as I am at this
moment. I quietly removed the arm of Nighthawk, and said in a low
tone:--
"'How do you know this?'
"'I overheard their talk,' he replied, in a husky voice, and looked at
me with infinite tenderness as he spoke. 'I was coming to see you at
the parsonage, where I thought you had gone, sir. I could not bear to
keep away from my old master's son any longer; and let him get married
without making up, and having him feel kindly again to me. Well, sir, I
had just reached the big cedar, when I saw _the lady_ come out of the
house, hasten toward the cedar, and hide herself in the shadow, within
a few feet of me. No sooner had she done so, than I saw a man come from
the rear of the house, straight to the cedar, and as he drew nearer I
recognized Mortimer.
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