Her ladyship was in tears, her
mind swollen to bursting-point by the secret which it sought to
contain but felt itself certainly unable to contain much longer.
"Why, Una dear," cried Miss Armytage, kneeling beside her and
putting a motherly arm about that full-grown child, "what is this?"
Her ladyship wept copiously, the springs of her grief gushing forth
in response to that sympathetic touch.
"Oh, my dear, I am so distressed. I shall go mad, I think. I am
sure I have never deserved all this trouble. I have always been
considerate of others. You know I wouldn't give pain to any one.
And - and Dick has always been so thoughtless."
"Dick?" said Miss Armytage, and there was less sympathy in
her voice. "It is Dick you are thinking about at present?"
"Of course. All this trouble has come through Dick. I mean,"
she recovered, "that all my troubles began with this affair of
Dick's. And now there is Ned under arrest and to be
court-martialled."
"But what has Captain Tremayne to do with Dick? "
"Nothing, of course," her ladyship agreed, with more than usual
self-restraint. "But it's one trouble on another. Oh, it's more
than I can bear."
"I know, my dear, I know," Miss Armytage said soothingly, and her
own voice was not so steady.
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