“Not many weeks have passed, Marian,” I answered, “since my interview with Mr. Kyrle. When he and I parted, the last words I said to him about Laura were these: ‘Her uncle’s house shall open to receive her, in the presence of every soul who followed the false funeral to the grave; the lie that records her death shall be publicly erased from the tombstone by the authority of the head of the family, and the two men who have wronged her shall answer for their crime to me , though the justice that sits in tribunals is powerless to pursue them.’ One of those men is beyond mortal reach. The other remains, and my resolution remains.”

Her eyes lit up⁠—her colour rose. She said nothing, but I saw all her sympathies gathering to mine in her face.