"
"We have had enough words," Griffiths interposed savagely.
Sir Henry ignored the interruption.
"I am listening, Philippa," he said calmly.
"It was my intention an hour ago to leave this place with Mr.
Lessingham to-night," she told him deliberately.
"The devil it was!" Sir Henry muttered.
"As for the reason, you know it," she continued, her tone full of
courage. "I am willing to throw myself at your feet now, but all
the same I was hardly treated. I was made the scapegoat of your
stupid promise. You kept me in ignorance of things a wife should
know. You even encouraged me to believe you a coward, when a
single word from you would have changed everything. Therefore, I
say that it is you who are responsible for what I nearly did, and
what I should have done but for him--listen, Henry--but for him!"
"But for him," her husband repeated curiously.
"It was Mr. Lessingham," she declared, "who opened my eyes concerning
you. It was he who refused to let me yield to that impulse of anger.
Look at my coat there. My bag is on that table. I was ready to
leave with him to-night. Before we went, he insisted on telling me
everything about you. He could have escaped, and I was willing to
go with him. Instead, he spent those precious minutes telling me
the truth about you. That was the end."
"Lady Cranston omits to add," Lessingham put in, "that before I did
so she told me frankly that her feelings for me were of warm
friendliness--that her love was given to her husband, and her
husband only.
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