Imagine what she thought! Any other woman would have sat aloof and let justice brand the woman who had doubly betrayed her.

I want you to consider it; every instinct of loyalty, friendship, trust, modesty had apparently been outraged and trampled on by the man she had given her heart to, and by the woman she had made a friend.

That was the position in which Ailsa Paige found herself when she learned of these charges, saw the evidence, and was informed by Hallam that he had forwarded his complaint." His grip almost crushed Berkley's shoulder muscles.
"And now I'll tell you what Ailsa Paige did.

She went before Miss Dix and told her that there was not one atom of truth in the charges.

She accounted for every date specified by saying that Miss Lynden was with her at those times, that she had known her intimately for years, known her family--that it was purely a case of mistaken identity, which, if ever pressed, would bewilder her friend, who was neither sufficiently experienced to understand what such charges meant, nor strong enough to endure the horror and shock if their nature were explained.
"She haughtily affirmed her absolute faith in you, avowed her engagement to marry you, pointed to your splendid military record; disdainfully exposed the motive for Hallam's action.