‘Reparation! What reparation can he make? Do you mean marriage? What gentleman would marry a poor girl like me--a common farmer’s daughter? And if it were likely, do you suppose that I would stoop to become the wife of a man who did not _want_ to marry me--who did so on compulsion? You don’t know me, Hugh.’ ‘But, Nell, my dear Nell, do you mean to tell me that this inhuman brute seduced you, and then deserted you? What have you been doing since, Nell? Where have you been living? I thought you came here from service at the Earl of Ilfracombe’s?’ ‘So I did.’ ‘And you were with him for three years?’ ‘I was,’ replied Nell, who felt as if her secret were being drawn from her, bit by bit. ‘Then you had a shelter and a home. Oh, Nell, do you mean to tell me that you did this thing of your own free will, knowing that it could not last, nor end lawfully? When you had a refuge and an honourable service, did you still consent to live in concubinage with this gentleman--knowing he only kept you as a toy which he could get rid of whenever the whim suited him?’ ‘I did!’ she cried defiantly, ‘if you will have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth--there it is. I loved him, and I lived with him of my free consent. It was my heaven to live with him. I never regretted it. I only regretted when it came to an end.’ ‘Oh, Nell,’ he said, ‘I thought higher of you than that.’ His evident misery touched her. ‘Hugh, how can I make you understand?’ she cried. ‘I believed it was for ever. I knew we could never be married, because he was so much above me; but I thought--he told me--that we should never part. I considered myself his wife, I did indeed; and when I was undeceived it nearly killed me.’ And, breaking down for the first time, Nell burst into tears. ‘There, there, don’t cry,’ said Hugh, wearily. ‘Remember, your mother might come in at any moment, and ask the reason of your tears. Try and restrain yourself. Your sad secret is safe with me, rely on that. Only--only let us consider, is there really no remedy for your trouble?’ ‘How can there be? He is married; that is why I am here. For three years I was the happiest woman under the sun. He is a rich man, and he gave me more than I ever desired; not that I cared for anything in comparison with his love. Ah, if he had only left me that, I would have begged in the streets by his side and been happy. But it all came to an end. He had gone away for a little while, and I had not the least idea that he was not coming back again. I was only longing and hoping for his return; and then one day his lawyer called to tell me that my darling--I mean that he was going to marry some lady, and I could be nothing ever to him again. Hugh, it drove me mad. I didn’t know what I was doing. I rushed out of the house and threw myself into the river.’ ‘Merciful God!’ exclaimed the young man, losing all control over himself.