He said that he left you suddenly for a reason,
and when he wished to return you would not have him. That was all. He
never spoke but kindly of you."
"He was a good man."
"He is a good man."
"I will tell you why he left me. He learned, no matter how, that I had not
been married, as I said I had."
She looked up, as if expecting him to speak. He said nothing, but stood
with eyes fixed on the floor.
"I admitted, too, that I kept alive the memory of a man who had played an
evil part in my life; that I believed I cared for him still, more than for
my husband."
"Ida, for God's sake, you do not mean"--
"Yes, I meant you then. But when he went away, when he proved himself so
noble, I changed. I learned to hate the memory of the other man. But he
came back too soon. I said things madly--things I did not mean. He went
again. And then afterward I knew that I loved him."
"I am glad of that, upon my soul!" said Telford, letting go a long breath.
She smiled strangely and with a kind of hardness. "A few days ago I had
determined to find him if I could, and to that end I intended to ask a man
who had proved himself a friend, to learn, if possible, where he was in
America. I came here to see him and my daughter."
"Who is the man?"
"Mr.
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