“If he had given me back the ring--my beautiful ring--I would not have struck her so hard with that thing I snatched off the table! Stubborn? Yes, she defied me! Me, Lelia Ritchie! That low-born Gipsy! I did not mean to kill her, but I struck too hard in my hate! How tightly the ring fitted her finger! I had hard work to wrench it off! But I have it back, my precious ring! Only I shall never dare to wear it, for Laurie must never know! It is all black with her blood, too; it will never shine again!” It was in vain that the horrified mother tried to seal the betraying lips with a frantic hand. Lelia only thrust her aside roughly, and babbled on: “My beautiful white gown, it is all ruined, too, with the blood-stains! That one with the beautiful duchess lace, you know, mama. I hid it away; I hated to burn it. Some day I will lock the door, and try to wash it white again! But how about my soul? Will that ever be white again?” She laughed mirthlessly, and they shuddered, all three of them, it had such a terrible sound. “Lelia, Lelia, be silent!” commanded her mother, but the frenzied voice raved on: “She will never get the letter Laurie wrote to tell her that he loved her, and would return some day to claim her for his bride! Ha, ha! I have that letter, both the letters, all hidden away from sight. It might be better to burn them to-night, before Laurie comes and finds them in the closet!” To their amazement, she slipped from the bed, pushing angrily aside the maternal hand that tried to restrain her movements. With outstretched hands and wide, unseeing eyes, she moved unerringly to the wardrobe. “There is nothing there--she is only dreaming!” the mother sobbed, giving way to wild alarm. No one answered. All were watching Lelia with bated breath. Opening the wardrobe, she drew from some compartment a tightly rolled up bundle, and began to tear it apart; but Mrs. Ritchie caught it wildly from her hands. CHAPTER XL. THE PROOFS OF HER GUILT. “I beg pardon,” cried Laurie Willoughby, striding forward. With a resolute grasp, he tore the package from the woman’s hands, though she shrieked viciously: “Restore it to me, I command you!” Like a tigress, she flung herself upon him, struggling for possession of the package, dreading to see it opened, eager to carry it away. But a terrible suspicion was forming in his mind. Firmly, without hurting her, he held her aloof, thrusting the bundle to his father, saying hoarsely: “Open it--let us know the worst!” General Willoughby, dazed and fearful, obeyed. While Lelia groped in the air aimlessly for what she had lost, and Laurie held her mother’s hands in a grasp like steel, General Willoughby shook out the folds of a white robe all stained and spotted with blood, two letters, and a ring. “My God, the proofs of her guilt!” the wretched husband cried, in a voice of anguish. He released Mrs. Ritchie’s hands, and she sank to the ground like a stone, crouching there in abject misery.