d manner; her intense nervousness at the sight
of any stranger; her reticence as to her youthful days; all this was
borne in on his mind, and he realised that he had been deceived. His
wife, in whom he had so trusted, had loved another before him; and at
the bitter truth, John Ashford utterly broke down, and, hiding his face
in the counterpane, sobbed like a child. Tears sometimes are Nature's
own medicine, and do more to soften the heart than any words. After the
first shock had worn away, Ashford commenced to look back on the happy
days he had spent with Lucy; the way she had worked with him, and for
him. These thoughts did their healing work, and accordingly, a few days
later, when Lucy Ashford returned to consciousness, she found her
husband's eyes gazing into hers with only pitying tenderness in their
depths.

"John," she said faintly, "have I been ill?"

"Yes, dear," he replied gently.

Something in his saddened tones, or perhaps strange intuition, told Lucy
that her secret was no longer hers alone.

"John!" she cried, her voice shaking with terror and weakness. "You know
all!" And she hid her face in her hands.

Her husband bent over her tenderly and kissed the thin cheek.

"Yes, dear," he said. "You've told me all. Why didn't you trust me
before?"

She looked at him in wonder, hardly believing the evidence of her own
ears. Was this all the reproach and anger he would deal out to her?
Could it be possible that, knowing all, the man she had loved, yet
feared, solely on this account, would not only forgive but take her into
his heart again? As if in answer to her bewildered thoughts, John's arm
was around her neck, and his kiss of forgiveness fell upon her lips.

Presently, she looked up, with a look of ineffable peace and gratitude
on her face.

"John," she said, "send for poor father; it will be new life to him to
know that this dreadful weight is off my heart, and that you, knowing
what a bad woman I have been, will still call me your wife. Oh, fetch
him to me soon, dear, that he may be happy too."

Her husband kissed her again, and without another word left the room.
Giving some directions to the neighbour who was still in the shop, he
set out at once on his journey. He drove into Hampton and took the first
train to London, where he intended to tell his father-in-law the whole
story, and learn what details he could; for he did not wish ever to
bring up the subject again, so far as Lucy was concerned