"Charmion."
I lay back in my chair, and shut my eyes. Never in my life have I
fainted, but I think I must have come very near it then. Everything
turned black; for a moment my very heart seemed to stop. Mr Thorold's
voice sounded far away, as he cried anxiously:--
"You are ill--faint! I'll open the window--give you more air." Then
with an eagerness which could not be suppressed, "You know her?
Hallett's wife? Is it possible? You have met her; or--have you only
heard--"
His anxiety made his voice shake. He was as much overcome as I was
myself.
"For six years," he added tragically--"six years he has searched the
world--."
"I--I know a Charmion. She left her husband. It may be a coincidence,
but it seems strange. She had good cause--"
"Oh, I don't deny it. Enough to alienate any woman. I don't wonder at
her going--at first--but, it was cruel to give him no chance to
explain."
"It was about money. He pretended to love her for herself, to know
nothing about her fortune, and afterwards--a letter came. That is my
Charmion's story. Is it his?"
"Yes! yes! this is a wonderful thing! That the discovery should have
come through you, and that you should have appealed to me of all
people--the only man on this side who can tell you the truth! Is it
coincidence, Miss Harding?"