"
Turlington, wondering, took a chair. Miss Amelia put the case before her
sisters from the sternly conscientious point of view, at the opposite
end of the room.
"We have not found out this abominable deception by any underhand
means," she said. "The discovery has been forced upon us, and we stand
pledged to nobody to keep the secret. Knowing as we do how cruelly this
gentleman has been used, it seems to me that we are bound in honor to
open his eyes to the truth. If we remain silent we make ourselves
Lady Winwood's accomplices. I, for one--I don't care what may come of
it--refuse to do that."
Her sisters agreed with her. The first chance their clever stepmother
had given them of asserting their importance against hers was now in
their hands. Their jealous hatred of Lady Winwood assumed the mask of
Duty--duty toward an outraged and deceived fellow-creature. Could any
earthly motive be purer than that? "Tell him, Amelia!" cried the two
young ladies, with the headlong recklessness of the sex which only stops
to think when the time for reflection has gone by.
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