She had thrown herself on the settle and had laid her head upon one of its arms.
In an instant he was beside her and had caught her hand.
"Nay, dear one, I cannot forgive the tears that dim those bright eyes," he whispered in her ear. "You have had a past, madam?"
"Ah, sir," cried Kitty, from the folds of her handkerchief, "all my life up to the present has been my past--that is why I weep."
"Is it so sad as that? You have a story?"
"Should I tell it to you?" said Kitty, raising her head suddenly and looking at the face that was so near hers. "I will, I will--yes, I will trust you--you may be able to help me."
"With my latest breath!" cried Mr. Bates.
"Sir, to be brief, I am a great heiress," said Kitty, quite calmly. Mr. Bates started, his eyes brightened. "My uncle was trustee of my father's property--it is in two counties," continued Kitty. "For some years after my father's death I had no reason for complaint. But then a change came. My uncle's son appeared upon the scene, and I soon perceived his true character--a ruined, dissolute scamp, I knew him to be, and when I rejected his advances with scorn, his father, who I fancied was my friend, commenced such a series of persecutions as would have broken a less ardent spirit than mine. They did not move me. They shut me up in a cold, dark dungeon and loaded these limbs of mine with fetters."
"They fed me with bread and water. They tortured me by playing on the harpsichord outside my prison all the best known airs from the _Beggars' Opera_.
"Oh, I thought I should have gone mad--mad; but I knew that that was just what they wanted, in order that they might shut me up in Bedlam, and enjoy my property. I made a resolution not to go mad, and I have adhered to it ever since."
"At last the time came when I could stand their treatment no longer. I flung my iron fetters to the winds--I burst through the doors of my prison and rushed into the dining-hall where my two persecutors were carousing in their cups. They sprang up with a cry of horror when I appeared. My uncle's hand was upon the bell, when I felled him with a heavy glass decanter. With a yell--I hear it now--his son sprang upon me--he went down beneath the stroke of the ten-light chandelier which I hastily plucked down and hurled at him. I called for a horse and chaise. They were at the door in a moment and I fled all night. But alas! alas! I feel that my flight shall avail me nothing. They are on my track, and I shall be forced to marry at least one of them. But no, no, sooner than submit, with this dagger--"