With a fast palpitating heart, Bella grasped him by the arm. “You cannot be suspected, John?”

“Dear love, I can be⁠—for I am!”

There was silence between them, as she sat looking in his face, with the colour quite gone from her own face and lips. “How dare they!” she cried at length, in a burst of generous indignation. “My beloved husband, how dare they!”

He caught her in his arms as she opened hers, and held her to his heart. “Even knowing this, you can trust me, Bella?”

“I can trust you, John dear, with all my soul. If I could not trust you, I should fall dead at your feet.”