She had need to keep her wits about her, to think, to weigh each word that she might utter.

An abyss had opened in her path; a false step, and she and her son were irrevocably lost--sent headlong to destruction.

Rotherby, already reduced to the last stage of fear, was obedient as he had never been, and fell silent instantly.
Mr.Templeton folded the papers, rose, and proffered them to their owner.

"Have you any means of proving that this was the document you sought ?" he inquired.
"I can prove that it was the document he found." It was Hortensia who spoke; she had advanced to her lover's side, and she controlled her amazement to bear witness for him.

"I was present in this room when he went through that desk, as all in the house know; and I can swear to his having found that paper in it." Mr.Templeton bowed.