d not
comprehend such conduct, but thought it some nervous freak, probably.

"Turning to Benton, he took him up in his arms and kissed him, asking
him some questions about himself and toys. 'Could you tell me what is
the matter with your mamma, Bennie?' he asked, seeing that my manner
remained inexplicable.

"'I tink see has a till,' answered Benton, who by this time knew the
meaning of the word 'chill' by experience.

"'She has given _me_ one, I know,' said Mr. Seabrook, regarding me
curiously. I began to feel faint, and sat down, leaning my head on my
hand, my elbow on the table.

"'Anna,' said he, addressing me by my Christian name for the first time,
and giving me a little shock in consequence--for I had almost forgotten
I had ever been called 'Anna'--'if I am so disagreeable to you, I will
go away again; though I certainly had reason to expect a different
reception.'

"'No,' I said, suddenly rousing up; 'you must not go until I have told
you something; unless you go to stay--which would perhaps be best.'

"'To stay! go to stay? There seems great need of explanation here. Will
you be good enough to tell me why I am to go away to stay?'

"'The reason is, Mr. Seabrook,' I answered, 'that your true wife, and
your own children expect you at home, in Ohio.'

"I had worded my answer with the intention of shocking the truth out of
him, if possible. If he should be innocent, I thought, he would forgive
me. There was too much at stake to stand upon niceties of speech; and I
watched him narrowly."

"How did he receive such a blow as that? I am curious to know how guilty
people act, on being accused."

"You cannot tell an innocent from a guilty person," Mrs. Greyfield
returned, with a touch of that asperity that was sometimes noticeable in
her utterances. Then, more quietly: "Both are shocked alike at being
accused; one because he is innocent; the other, because he is guilty.
How much a person is shocked depends upon temperament and circumstance.
The guilty person, always consciously in danger of being accused, is
likely to be prepared and on the defensive, while the other is not.

"What Mr. Seabrook did, was to turn upon me a look of keen observation,
not unmixed with surprise. It might mean one thing; it might mean
another; how could I tell? He always impressed me so with his
superiority that even in that moment, when my honor and life's happiness
were at stake, I was conscious of a feeling of abasement and guil