"Are you not as much
injured by one as by the other?"
"It may be," replied her daughter, "but I am jealous only of the
Countess. I would kneel to any other woman, and thank her, who would
tear my husband from her embraces!"
"Weak fool! I disown you," exclaimed Lady Lake, angrily.
"What a wife!" cried Diego, apart. "His lordship is quite unworthy of
her. Now I should appreciate such devotion."
At this juncture there was a slight movement on the part of Lady
Exeter, and something like a sigh escaped her.
"She revives!" whispered Lady Lake to her daughter. "We shall soon learn
the truth. I will find a means to make her speak. Well, my lord," she
added aloud, and speaking in a sarcastic tone, "if you will have it so,
it is idle to dispute it. But what will the Countess say, when she
discovers your infidelity?"
On this a brisker movement took place on the couch, and a hand was
raised as if to snatch away the 'kerchief.
"We have her," whispered Lady Lake triumphantly to her daughter.
"Surely," she proceeded aloud, "the Countess will deeply resent the
transfer of your affections to her handmaiden."
Lord Roos saw the peril in which he stood. A moment more and Lady Lake
had gained her point, and the Countess betrayed herself.
"Lady Exeter will place little reliance on any representations you may
make, Madam," he said, giving particular significance to his words,
"except so far as they concern herself, and then she will take care to
refute them.
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