"Oh, yes! but go on. Tell me about this Cardo Wynne."
"Well, it's a sad story. They were married; I married them without the
knowledge of the two opinionated old men--I hope I sha'n't fall too low
in your estimation, Miss Powell."
"Oh! no, no! go on, please. Every word you say is like water to a
thirsty man. They were married?"
"Yes, safe enough; and straight from the church porch they separated,
for he was leaving for Australia that afternoon at his father's earnest
request, with the idea of making peace between him and a brother whom
he had offended many years ago. Well, I heard no more of Cardo for
nearly two years, when I received a letter from him from Australia,
telling me of the series of misfortunes which had detained him there so
long. First of all, a serious attack of typhoid fever, and a blow on
the head which occasioned concussion of the brain. He was carried
unconscious to a hospital, and remained there many months, utterly
oblivious of all around him, as no operation had been attempted on his
skull, nobody knowing of the blow he had received. One of the visiting
doctors at the hospital took him home with him as an 'interesting
case,' and then he discovered the indented bit of bone which was
pressing upon the brain, and causing first the unconsciousness, and
afterwards a complete lapse of memory. Poor old Cardo! the jolliest
fellow in the world. What must he have felt when memory returned after
a successful operation, and he realised that Valmai and his father were
utterly ignorant of his whereabouts."
"Oh, stop, stop," said Gwladys, "oh! what shall I do? Mr. Ellis, I
dread to hear the end, and yet I must; go on, please."
"Well, it's very sad. Poor old Cardo returned home at once, and
finding Valmai gone from Abersethin made his way up here. Did you see
him?"
Gwladys could scarcely gasp "Yes!"
"Then no doubt you know how she repulsed him, and taunted him with
wilful desertion of her--desertion, indeed! that honest Cardo, whose
very soul was bound up in her! Had I not heard it from his own lips, I
could never have believed that Valmai would have used the words 'base
and dishonourable' to Cardo Wynne. He is broken-hearted, and really,
if she perseveres in this unwarranted indignation, I think it will kill
him; and that is why I wanted to see her, for I still believe there
must be some mistake."
"Mistake! yes, yes, a horrible mistake. She never saw him at all. It
was I who spoke those cruel words to him!"
"Miss Powell! you! how can I believe such a thing?"
"Yes, yes, you must believe," she said, wringing her hands, "it is I
who have broken my sister's heart--the sister whom I would die to save
a moment's pain." And she rose to her feet, though her limbs trembled
with excitement. "It is my turn now to tell my story, and when I have
finished you will despise me, and you will have good reason."