Marian’s testimony was positive on this point. Mrs. Fairlie’s letter to her husband, which had been read to me in former days⁠—the letter describing Anne’s resemblance to Laura, and acknowledging her affectionate interest in the little stranger⁠—had been written, beyond all question, in perfect innocence of heart. It even seemed doubtful, on consideration, whether Mr. Philip Fairlie himself had been nearer than his wife to any suspicion of the truth. The disgracefully deceitful circumstances under which Mrs. Catherick had married, the purpose of concealment which the marriage was intended to answer, might well keep her silent for caution’s sake, perhaps for her own pride’s sake also, even assuming that she had the means, in his absence, of communicating with the father of her unborn child.