Her Faithful Knight — page 284: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

280 Dorothy’s Confession. it?” she asked in an excited whisper. “I never thought it would sound like that.” “I heard every word. But I knew it all before.” “You knew it! And yet you took me in? Was it out of pity? Or do you take a morbid interest in monsters ?” He could see that she was strung up to the highest pitch of excitement and so would not resent her bitter words, which seemed burnt out of her in a fire of feeling. “T have told you my reasons,” he said gently. “I should only weary you by repeating them.” “You have told me that you—you love me,” she said in the same nervous, intense whisper. “But you have no idea of the real facts of the case. You called me Mrs. Sergius Trevelyan. Darcy Derrick and Sergius Trevel- yan are one and the same person. He went through an illegal form of marriage with the one sister, deceiving and deserting her, and he was afterward legally married to the other. So that you see he spoiled the lives of both.” Aylmer drew a quick breath. This, indeed, he had not known. But his passionate sympathy and love for Doro- _ thy enabled him to see into her mind. He understood that embittered as she was by the trials of fortune, she could not yet wholly trust and believe him. She was tell- ing herself that this man who gave shelter to a suspected murderess would presently expect his pay in freedom to make love to her. The suspicion, he knew, was worthy neither of her nor of him, but it seemed to him, under the circumstances of the case, at least justifiable. “TI knew that you were married,” he said, after a slight pause. “I told you so. And I wish with all my heart that you were married happily.” She looked at him doubtfully. She did not quite be- lieve his statement, and he himself knew that it was not wholly true. He would have wished it to be so, but he Eomichbooks (E()