Traverse poured out a glass of water and handed it to her.
She drank it, made an effort at self-control, and resumed: "Thus, scarcely sixteen years of age, I was a widow, helpless,
penniless and entirely dependent upon my brother-in-law, Colonel
Gabriel Le Noir, for by the terms of their father's will, if Eugene
died without issue the whole property descended to his younger brother,
Gabriel. To speak the truth, Colonel Le Noir was exceedingly kind to me
after my awful bereavement, until a circumstance was discovered that
changed all our relations. It was two months after my husband's death
that I discovered, with mingled emotions of joy and sorrow, that heaven
had certainly destined me to become a mother! I kept my cherished
secret to myself as long as it was possible, but it could not indeed be
long concealed from the household. I believe that my brother-in-law was
the first to suspect it. He called me into his study one day, and I
obeyed like a child. And there he rudely questioned me upon the subject
of my sacred mother-mystery. He learned the truth more from my silence
than from my replies, for I could not answer him."
"The brute! the miserable hound!" ejaculated Traverse.
"Oh, Doctor Rocke, I could not tell you the avalanche of abuse, insult
and invective that he hurled upon my defenseless head. He accused me of
more crimes than I had ever heard talk of. He told me that my condition
was an impossible one unless I had been false to the memory of his
brother; that I had dishonored his name, disgraced his house and
brought myself to shame; that I should leave the roof, leave the
neighborhood and die as I deserved to die, in a ditch! I made no reply.
I was crushed into silence under the weight of his reproaches."
"The caitiff! The poltroon! Ah, poor stranger, why did you not leave
the house at once and throw yourself upon the protection of the
minister of your parish or some other kind neighbor?"
"Alas! I was a child, a widow and a foreigner all in one! I did not
know your land or your laws or your people. I was not hopeful or
confident; I had suffered so cruelly and I was overwhelmed by his
abuse."
"But did you not know, dear lady, that all his rage was aroused only by
the fact that the birth of your child would disinherit him?"
"Ah, no! I was not aware, at that time, that Gabriel Le Noir was a
villain. I thought his anger honest, though unjust, and I was as
ignorant as a child. I had no mother nor matronly friend to instruct
me. I knew that I had broken no command of God or man; that I had been
a faithful wife, but when Gabriel Le Noir accused me with such bitter
earnestness I feared that some strange departure from the usual course
of nature had occurred for my destruction. And I was overwhelmed by
mortification, terror and despair!"