"Yes, Rhoda is my niece," she said. "She is my sister Lydia's little girl.
What made you guess it?"
Pauline was slightly taken aback at this speech of Miss Merivale's. She
had not expected her to admit the truth so readily. "Miss Merivale, you
must trust me," she said in a low, eager voice. "I understand exactly why
you want it to be a secret. No one shall ever know from me."
Miss Merivale pushed her chair back, freeing herself from the touch of
Pauline's hands. A shock of repulsion had gone through her.
"It will be no secret after to-day," she said in the same stunned, heavy
voice. "I shall tell Tom this afternoon. I ought to have told him before."
Tom came home late in the afternoon. He expected to find that his aunt and
the girls had all gone to Bingley woods, and he only went to the house to
change his riding boots before going to meet them. He passed through the
archway in the yew hedge, marking with tender, happy eyes the exact spot
where Rhoda had stood that morning while they talked together. His feet
lingered a little as he went down the turf path to the house. Everything
in the garden spoke to him of Rhoda, and it was in the garden he had seen
her first.
He went through the open window of the library and across the hall. As he
reached the foot of the stairs he was surprised to hear his aunt's voice.
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