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 —&quot;the woman who pretended to be Arthur's wife.&quot;

Kate started as at the clutch of an unacknowledged fear.

&quot;She was his wife, then?&quot;

Peyton made an impatient movement of negation. &quot;If she was, why did n't she prove it? She had n't a shred of evidence. The courts rejected her appeal.&quot;

&quot;Well, then—?&quot;

&quot;Well, she's dead.&quot; He paused, and the next words came with difficulty. &quot;She and the child.&quot;

&quot;The child? There was a child?&quot;

&quot;Yes.&quot;

Kate started up and then sank down. These were not things about which young girls were told. The confused sense of horror had been nothing to this first sharp edge of fact.

&quot;And both are dead?&quot;

&quot;Yes.&quot;