"Well, that is easy. When your father fell in love with his first wife, Maria Edgerton, they took the sister Agnes, now Mrs. Speed, into their confidence. She received and kept all the letters, at least, she seems to have kept the letters after Maria Edgerton died. Of course, when the affair came to the ears of your grandfather and myself we were terribly annoyed. Mind you, I had nothing whatever to say against Maria Edgerton. She was very good and beautiful, but very simple indeed, and ignorant of the ways of the world. We thought that we had put an end to the affair, but we failed, and your father and Maria Edgerton were secretly married. Even then we had hopes of hushing up the scandal. Your father had to go away with his regiment, and we persuaded his wife that he was dead. I did that, and old Patience helped me. And so did Slight--we were all in the disgraceful business. Don't ask me why I did it; call it the curse of the family pride if you like. We thought the woman would go away and forget. Instead of that she pined and died. When the news came to me I felt like a murderess. I have never been the same woman again, I never shall be. And your father found it all out, he came home, and there was a dreadful scene. He went away declaring that he would never come home again, and he kept his word. I dared not write to him directly, but sent my letters through Mrs. Speed. Now you can understand how her son has come to be so well posted in the secret history of our house. He must have read and re-read those letters till he had them by heart. But his mother did not know, she does not guess. How much longer is this state of affairs to continue, Ralph?" Ralph shook his head. These revelations came as a surprise to him. And it was a very sad and very dreadful confession that Lady Dashwood had made to him. "All that I have heard confirms me in my opinion that I have acted for the best," he said. "I cannot absolve you from blame, grandmother, indeed I cannot. For the sake of the family pride, you have suffered this remorse for nearly forty years. And yet, in the face of it all, knowing that Mary was coming into the property some day, you fostered the same spirit in her. I love Mary, and the one great object in my life is to make her my wife. But I wanted to be loved for my own sake, and not for the sake of the family fetish. My plan----" "Is succeeding," Lady Dashwood cried. "Nay, it has succeeded already. Go and see Mary, call on her and ascertain for yourself whether I am speaking the truth or not. She has only been gone a few days, but already the change has worked wonders. Put your future to the touch, and you will not be disappointed. Only end this dreadful state of affairs, turn that man out of the Hall, let me see the place sweet and wholesome again before I die."