But her husband to her had always been an outside power which had in many cases to be evaded.

Lady Mary, though she did not express all this, evidently thought that in this new friend she had found a woman whose wishes and aspirations for her would be those which her mother had entertained.
But Mrs.Finn was much troubled in her mind, thinking that it was her duty to tell the story to the Duke.

It was not only the daughter who had trusted her, but the father also; and the father's confidence had been not only the first but by far the holier of the two.

And the question was one so important to the girl's future happiness! There could be no doubt that the peril of her present position was very great.
"Mary," she said one morning, when the fortnight was nearly at an end, "your father ought to know all this.

I should feel that I had betrayed him were I to go away leaving him in ignorance." "You do not mean to say that you will tell ?" said the girl, horrified at the idea of such treachery.
"I wish that I could induce you to do so.