"It was then, Richard, that the temptation came; for all at once, as I looked down upon you both, the thought came, and I shivered. Then all opened out before me--a bright life, wealth, position, a great future for the helpless babe I held; and I said why should it not be for my boy. I shrank from it for a moment, not more. Then it seemed so easy, so sure, that I did not hesitate. In two minutes you had on the little master's night-gown, and he wore yours; and I laid _you_, Dick--my boy-- my flesh and blood, in the cradle, and stole downstairs with theirs." There was a faint rustle amongst the leaves overhead; but no one heeded, and the woman went on. "As soon as I got down, shivering with fear, a sort of hysterical fit came over me, and I got worse; I grew so feverish that I had to lie down, and I was ill for weeks; but that passed off, and the struggle began. Ah, Richard, boy, your poor mother bore it all for you--that you might be rich and happy, while she suffered the tortures of hell; her heart yearning to take you to her heart, hearing you cry as she lay awake at nights with a stranger nursed at her breast. But that passed off when you both grew bigger; and you know how I treated you after, as I saw you grow up. People said I was hard to Humphrey. Perhaps I was, but I was never hard to you; and many a night I've cried myself to sleep with joy, when I have found you loving and affectionate, soothing me for the jealous tortures I suffered because I could not call you mine. But I said `no, there is no going back; you have made him, let it be.'" "And Lloyd?" said Richard, hoarsely--"did he know of this?" "Yes, I told him, and he would have confessed; but he did not dare. My boy, when you spoke to me that night in your room--when for the first time for years I kissed you, I felt that I must tell you all." "It's monstrous!" cried Richard, and his face looked ten years older. "But, no; I won't believe it--it can't be true." "Not true!" exclaimed Mrs Lloyd, with her sallow cheeks flushing. "Ask your father. Is it so hard," she added, bitterly, "to find that you have a father and mother alive instead of in the grave?" "It is impossible!" cried Richard. "Hush, hold your tongue!" she said, angrily. "You know the secret now-- keep it. What is it to a soul? I never had the heart to send Humphrey away, but treated him well. Send him away now--give him money to go away. He'll soon forget Polly. You must many her; and Richard--say a kind word to me," she whispered, softening, "kiss me once--once only, my boy--your mother--before she goes back to be your servant, and to hold her peace for ever." She crept closer to him, as he stood staring straight away, her thin hands rested on his shoulders, and she gazed up into his eyes, with her face working and growing strangely young, even as his tinned old.