Thank God you were not deluded into carrying out the promise.

It was all a plot, my darling, between that wretched man and his sister.

They knew you had money and they wanted it.

I must not reproach you, but I wish you had told me before we were married--you should not have suffered so terribly." "Shall you love me just as much as you did before ?" she asked, after a short pause.
"I may safely say that I shall love you a thousand times better, Marion.
You see, I have found out in this short space of time that I could not live without you." She was not long in recovering after that.

As soon as it was possible to move her, Lord Atherton took her to Hanton, and there she speedily regained health and strength.
When she was quite well, Lord Atherton had one more conversation with her on this matter.
"You were so very young," he said, "and the brother and sister seem both to have been specious, cunning and clever; they evidently played upon your weakness and childish love of romance.