find vent in words. How was it? To this moment I cannot tell. Great
Heaven! what did I see? In this beloved and worshiped wife--in this fair
and queenly woman--in this tender and charitable lady, who was so good
to the fallen and miserable--in this woman, idolized by the man I loved
best upon earth, I saw the murderess--the woman who had dropped the
little bundle over the railing into the sea.

It was she as surely as heaven shone above us. I recognized the
beautiful face, the light golden hair, the tall, graceful figure. The
face was not white, set desperate now, but bright, with a soft, sweet
radiance I have seen on the face of no other woman living. For an
instant my whole heart was paralyzed with horror. I felt my blood grow
cold and gather round my heart, leaving my face and hands cold. She came
forward to greet me with the same graceful, undulating grace which had
struck me before. For a moment I was back on the Chain Pier, with the
wild waste of waters around me, and the rapid rush of the waves in my
ear. Then a beautiful face was smiling into mine--a white hand, on which
rich jewels shone, was held out to me, a voice sweeter than any music I
had ever heard, said:

"You are welcome to Dutton, Mr. Ford. My husband will be completely
happy now."

Great Heaven! how could this woman be a murderess--the beautiful face,
the clear, limpid eyes--how could it be? No sweeter mouth ever smiled,
and the light that lay on her face was the light of Heaven itself. How
could it be?

She seemed to wonder a little at my coldness, for she added: