ing."

For an instant an almost painful silence ensued, until Dr. Westlake
said,--

"Will you state your relation to the deceased?"

"I was the lawfully wedded, but unacknowledged, wife of Hugh
Mainwaring," was the calm reply.

"Please state when and where your marriage took place," said the
coroner, watching the witness narrowly.

"We were married privately in London, about three months before Mr.
Mainwaring came to this country."

"How long ago was that?"

"A little more than twenty-three years."

"You say that you were privately married, and that in all these
years Mr. Mainwaring never acknowledged you as his wife?"

"Yes. I was at that time a widow, and, owing to certain unpleasant
circumstances attending the last months of my former husband's life,
Mr. Mainwaring insisted that our marriage be strictly private. I
acceded to his wishes, and we were married as quietly as possible.
At the end of three months he deserted me, and for four years I did
not even know where he had gone. During that time, however, I
learned that my husband, who had been fearful of soiling his proud
name by having it publicly joined with mine, was, in the sight of
the law, a common criminal. I finally traced him to America, and
five years after he deserted me I had the pleasure of confronting
him with the facts which I had obtained. With passionate
protestations of renewed love and fair promises of an honorable
married life, he sought to purchase my silence, and, fool that I
was! I yielded. He claimed that he could not at once acknowledge
me as his wife, because he was already known as an unmarried man,
but in the near future we would repeat the marriage ceremony and I
should be the honored mistress of his heart and home. I believed
him and waited. Meantime, our child was born, and then a new role
had to be adopted. Had he not known that he was in my power, I
would then have been thrust out homeless with my babe, but he dared
not do that. Instead, I was brought to Fair Oaks dressed in widow's
garb, as a distant relative of his who was to be his housekeeper.
So, for my son's sake, hoping he would some day receive his rights,
I have lived a double life, regarded as a servant where I should
have been mistress, and holding that poor position only because it
was within my power to put the master of the house in a felon's
cell!"

"Can you produce the certificate of this marriage?" inquired the
coroner, regarding the witness