This woman gave me an entirely different version of the case, describing in eloquent terms the girl’s filial devotion to her mother in their dire necessity.  I learned now for the first time the real magnitude of the sin I had committed.  I wanted to tell you all then, but dared not.  Now, however, with the grave yawning beneath me, I have no longer anything to hope or fear in this world.  There is one thing yet which I can do to repair my error and show that my repentance is sincere.  My poor lost darlings had a fortune of fifty thousand dollars left to them jointly by a deceased uncle.  They were to come into possession of this money when Alice had reached the age of eighteen and Gracia twenty-one.  In case of their death it was to revert to me.  I want to convey this sum to Clemence Graystone, because I willfully and maliciously misrepresented her character to the man who would have made her his loved and honored wife.  It was a cowardly and cruel act.  I shudder to think what the consequences may have been.  It may be that want and grief have plunged her into crime.  I could never learn her fate, but the thought of her sweetness and purity has comforted me when I have thought distractedly of her.  I could never connect anything but guileless innocence with those calm, clear eyes, and that lofty brow, whereon intellect sat enthroned.’

“‘But, Gracia,’ I interrupted, ’are you aware of the import of your own words?’

“‘I am,’ she said, ’and I mean to fulfill them.  My mind is perfectly clear upon the subject.  There is no necessity for a lawyer.  I will write out my wishes in a few words, and sign my name without witnesses.  I shall give this into your charge, Wilfred.  It is a sacred trust.  Find this girl, if you have to search the wide world over, and tell her of this conversation by my dying bed.’

“I told her all then that I had learned in the last few months, and promised faithfully to perform the sad office.  It almost made her happy.  She died soon after.

“When the funeral obsequies were over I sought my late brother’s lawyer, intending to place the business in his hands before I sought you.  However, he laughed at the whole story as a piece of absurdity; told me that the pretty governess was doubtless married to some honest fellow in her own sphere in life, and advised me to destroy the unimportant slip of paper, pocket the fifty thousand, and say nothing.  I left in disgust, resolving to keep the whole affair, for the future, in my own hands.  I immediately hurried to Mrs. Linden with the marvelous story, and she gave me your address and a God speed.  That is all that I have to tell, except that I am here to congratulate you upon the change in your fortune.”

“Don’t jest,” she said, looking at him with tear-filled eyes.  “It was only over these graves, two of which hide those who were dear to me, that I have gained this great good.”

“Then I will stop jesting,” he said, gravely, “and utter only the truth.  Clemence, I had another reason for seeking you.  You have learned my secret, and know, now, my deep love for you.  Tell me if I may hope for its return.”