"He did not send them!" replied her visitor.
A deep flush, for one moment, suffused her neck, arms, face—even to the very temples—as she exclaimed, "How did they come into your possession?"
"Lady Marchmont," returned Maynard, "do sit down, and listen patiently, if you can, to me for five minutes!"
Henrietta obeyed like a child, indeed she could now scarcely stand; still, there was that consciousness about her, which made her turn her face a little aside. Walter hesitated, when she turned suddenly round:—
"For mercy's sake, tell me the worst; I can bear it better than suspense! What has happened to Sir George Kingston?"
"Do not give yourself any uneasiness about one so utterly unworthy of a thought! Sir George Kingston is without one grain of either honour or real feeling! The fact is, I have, for some months past, been his secretary, and wrote for him the letters which were sent you!"
