I do not believe that any one
has ever suffered so cruelly, my darling. If death had parted us, the
trial would have been easier to bear."
She turned her sad eyes to him.
"It is very cruel," she said, with a shudder. "I did not think the
duchess would be so cruel."
"It is more than that--it is infamous!" he cried. "It is vengeance
worthier of a fiend than of a woman."
"And I loved her so!" said the young girl, mournfully. "Husband, I will
not reproach you--your love was chivalrous and noble; but why did you
not let me speak freely to you? I declared to you that no doubt ever
crossed my mind. I thought you knew all, though I considered it strange
that you, so proud of your noble birth, should wish to marry me. I never
imagined that you had been deceived. The duchess told me that you knew
the whole history of my father's crime, that you were familiar with
every detail of it, but that you wished me never to mention it--never
even ever so remotely to allude to it. I thought it strange, Norman,
that one in your position should be willing to overlook so terrible a
blot; but she told me your love for me was so great that you could not
live without me.
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