Nor do I believe she was an actress.

There never was any actress of that name--not so you'd notice it, anyhow, and that woman would have been known for her looks and height even if she couldn't act.

Moreover, if she was an actress there would be no sense in giving the nuns a false name, since she had admitted the fact.

No, it's my guess that she was something worse." "Well, I've prepared myself for anything." "I figure out that she was the mistress of one of our rich highfliers, and that when he got tired of her he pensioned her off, and she made up her mind to reform on account of the kid, and went back to Rouen, and proceeded to identify herself with her class by growing old and shapeless as quickly as possible.

She must have adopted the name Delano in New York before she bought her steamer ticket, for although I've had a man on the hunt, the only Delanos of that time were eminently respectable--" "Why are you sure she was not a--well--woman of the town ?" "Because, there again--there's no dame of that time either of that name or looks--neither Dubois nor Delano.