She told of the chatter of Hetty Giles, and how she had pointed out the beautiful lady his mother wished him to marry--and how slowly everything had dawned upon her--the real differences. Of the guests she had seen on the Daneshead terrace and how they wore such lovely dresses and moved so easily and laughed and talked all at once, as if they were used to it all, and perhaps wore such charming things for every day--the wonderful colors and wide, beautiful hats with plumes--and how even the servants wore pretty clothes and went about as if they all knew how to do things, passing cups and plates. Then she told of her talk with his mother and how carefully she had guarded her tongue lest a word escape her he would rather not have had her speak. "I had wronged you in not telling you you had a son, and I meant to leave him with your mother so he could be raised right." She paused, and put her hand to her throat, then went bravely on. "Your mother was kind--she gave me wine--she brought it to me herself. I knew what I ought to do, but I wasn't strong enough. It seemed as if something here in my breast was bleeding, and my baby would die if I did it. When I came out, he was in your sister's arms and had been crying, and it seemed as if all I had planned had happened, and I took him and carried him away quickly. I couldn't go fast enough, and I left the inn that night. The world seemed all like _Vanity Fair_." David rose and stood before her looking down into her eyes. He could not control his voice in speaking, and she felt his hands quiver as they rested on her shoulders. "When did you read that book, Cassandra? Where did you find it?" he asked, in dismay. "Among your books in the cabin. I felt at first that it must be a kind of a disgrace to be a lord--as if every one who had a title or education must be mean and low, and all the rest of the world over there must be fools; but because of you, David, I knew better than to believe that. Your mother is not like those women, either. She was kind and beautiful, and--I--loved her, but all the more I saw the difference. But now you have come to me and made me strong, I can do it. Everything has grown clear to me again, and I see how you gave yourself to me--to save me--when you did not dream of what was to be for you in the future; and out of your giving has come the--little son, and he is yours. Wait! Don't take me in your arms." She placed her hands on his breast and held him from her.