“That wretched woman impudently boasted to my face that she loved you;
more than that, she swore that you, also, had loved her, and were still
in love with her. She laughed at me contemptuously, telling me that she
had it in her power to make you do anything she chose, and offering to
show me your letters”--
She paused a moment, turned her head aside, and said with a visible
effort,--
“Finally, M. Thomas Elgin assured me that Sarah Brandon had been your
mistress, and that the marriage with my father took place only in
consequence of a quarrel between you.”
Daniel had listened to her, trembling with indignation. He now cried
out,--
“And you could believe these false calumnies! Oh, no, no! tell me that
there is no need for me to justify myself to”--