ce was not quite without effect. Mrs. Gaunt colored
a little; she said, stiffly: "Excuse me if I seem discourteous, but you
and I ought not to be in one room a moment. You do not see this,
apparently. But at least I have a right to insist that such an interview
shall be very brief, and to the purpose. Oblige me, then, by telling me
in plain terms why you have come hither."

"Madam, to be your witness at the trial."

"_You_ to be _my_ witness?"

"Why not? If I can clear you? What, would you rather be condemned for
murder, than let me show them you are innocent? Alas! how you hate me!"

"Hate you, child? of course I hate you. We are both of us flesh and
blood, and hate one another. And one of us is honest enough, and uncivil
enough, to say so."

"Speak for yourself, dame," replied Mercy, quietly, "for I hate you not;
and I thank God for it. To hate is to be miserable. I'd liever be hated
than to hate."

Mrs. Gaunt looked at her. "Your words are goodly and wise," said she;
"your face is honest, and your eyes are like a very dove's. But, for all
that, you hate me quietly, with all your heart. Human nature is human
nature."

"'T is so. But grace is grace." She was silent a moment, then resumed:
"I'll not deny I did hate you for a time, when first I learned the man I
had married had a wife, and you were she. We that be women are too
unjust to each other, and too indulgent to a man. But I have worn out my
hate. I wrestled in prayer, and the God of Love, he did quench my most
unreasonable hate. For 'twas the man betrayed me; _you_ never wronged
me, nor I you. But you are right, madam; 't is true that nature without
grace is black as pitch. The Devil, he was busy at my ear, and whispered
me, 'If the fools in Cumberland hang her, what fault o' thine? Thou wilt
be his lawful wife, and thy poor, innocent child will be a child of
shame no more.' But, by God's grace, I did defy him. And I do defy him."
She rose swiftly from her chair, and her dove's eyes gleamed with
celestial light. "Get thee behind me, Satan. I tell thee the hangman
shall never have her innocent body, nor thou my soul."

The movement was so unexpected, the words and the look so simply noble,
that Mrs. Gaunt rose too, and gazed upon her visitor with astonishment
and respect; yet still with a dash of doubt.

She thought to herself, "If this creature is not sincere, what a
mistress of deceit she must be."

But Mercy Vint soon returned to her quiet self. Sh