Merciful God! am I truly your daughter ?" she cried.

"Is my name indeed Ashburn, and have I been reared upon the estates that by crime you gained possession of?
Estates that by crime you hold--for they are his; every stone, every stick that goes to make the place belongs to him, and now he has gone to his death by your contriving." A moan escaped her, and she covered her face with her hands.

A moment she stood rocking there--a fair, lissom plant swept by a gale of ineffable emotion.

Then the breath seemed to go all out of her in one great sigh, and Gregory, who dared not look her way, heard the swish of her gown, followed by a thud as she collapsed and lay swooning on the ground.
So disturbed at that was Gregory's spirit that, forgetting his wound, his fever, and the death which he had believed impending, he leapt from his couch, and throwing wide the door, bellowed lustily for Stephen.

In frightened haste came his henchman to answer the petulant summons, and in obedience to Gregory's commands he went off again as quickly in quest of Catherine--Cynthia's woman.
Between them they bore the unconscious girl to her chamber, leaving Gregory to curse himself for having been lured into a confession that it now seemed to him had been unnecessary, since in his newly found vitality he realized that death was none so near a thing as that scoundrelly fool of a leech had led him to believe..