I told her how I had come home, and had met with the fisherman who had informed me of her death, and how she had died because of Wilfred and Mr. Inch, who had goaded her to do what was death to her. "And what followed, Roger?" she said, anxiously, as I hesitated a minute. "I hated Wilfred as I never hated man before. I felt that he was deserving of the worst that could befall any man, and I determined to be revenged." Again I hesitated, and again she told me to go on. Should I tell her? Should I with a few words blacken her life, should I destroy her every hope? Yet the truth must out. It always does, and I should but put off the evil day by refraining from telling her. Yet it was terribly hard, the man must have a steady hand who writes his own death-warrant without shaking. She saw, I think, how terrible was the ordeal, for she nestled closer to me and spoke gently. "Dear Roger," she said, "it must have nearly driven you mad to meet him." I think this gave me strength, for I clenched my hands nervously, and began to tell her of our meeting and of the darkest deed that ever blighted my life, wondering in my heart what she would say and do when she knew what I had done. CHAPTER XXIV CAIN And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. . . . A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.--_The Book of Genesis._ At last, I had told her. The dread truth which I had trembled for her to know was made known. Word by word, sentence by sentence, often hesitating, often stammering, I related our meeting, the awful struggle on the cliff with its terrible ending. Then I felt her tremble. "And Wilfred is dead?" she gasped. "Dead," I repeated. "And you killed him?" "I--I killed him." "Then you are a--a----" "Yes, I am. My God, I am a murderer!" I felt her shrink from me, I saw the blood recede from her face, and in another second she lay motionless in my arms. I laid her gently down in an old settle, and ran into the hall shouting for help. The two women servants who had attended upon lier quickly appeared. "Your mistress!" I gasped. "Make haste." They hurried to the room and found Ruth lying as one dead. I could not stay there while they tried to restore her. I felt I had killed her, and my head whirled so that I could scarcely stand. Until then I did not know what a man could bear and still live. No tongue or pen can describe what I suffered. I had been in hell the night before; it was worse now. Then only the death of the man whom I had hated pressed on my conscience, now, I feared, I had by the same deed killed my darling, whom only a few hours before, I had taken from a living grave.