ButMrs。Pottingeronlysetherlipsimplacablytogether。“Verywell，tellthemthen，“shesaidrigidly；“tellthemhowyouluredmefrommyhumbledependenceinSanFranciscowiththeprospectofahomewithyou；tellthemhowyoucompelledmetodeceivetheirtrustingheartswithyourwickedfalsehoods；tellthemhowyou——afoundling——borrowedmeforyourmother，mypoordeadhusbandforyourfather，andmademeinventfalsehooduponfalsehoodtotellthemwhileyousatstillandlistened！“
Prospergasped。
“Tellthem，“shewentondeliberately，“thatwhenIwantedtobringmyhelplesschildtoheronlyhome——THEN，onlythen——youdeterminedtobreakyourwordtome，eitherbecauseyoumeanlybegrudgedherthatshareofyourhouse，ortokeepyourmisdeedsfromherknowledge！Tellthemthat，Prossy，dear，andseewhatthey’llsay！“
Prospersankbackinhischairaghast。Inhissuddeninstinctofrevolthehadforgottenthecamp！Heknew，alas，toowellwhattheywouldsay！Heknewthat，addedtotheirindignationathavingbeenduped，theirchivalryandabsurdsentimentwouldriseinarmsagainsttheabandonmentoftwohelplesswomen！
“P’r’apsye’reright，ma’am，“hestammered。“Iwasonlythinkin’，“