Mr. Rider regarded her with amazement and supreme contempt at this
servile appeal, for so it seemed to him.
"How can you expect that Miss Richards will succor you after your
heartless and wicked treatment of her?" he demanded more sharply than
he had yet spoken to her.
"Because, Mr. Rider," Mona gently interposed, "she bears a name she knows
I am anxious to save from all taint or reproach; because she was the
wife, and I the only child, of Walter Richmond Montague Dinsmore."
The detective gave vent to a long, low whistle of surprise.
"Zounds! can that be possible?" he cried, as he turned his wondering
glance upon the lawyers.
"Yes," said Mr. Corbin, "it is the truth, and, of course, it is time that
it should be revealed. I have known that Mrs. Richmond Montague and Mrs.
Walter Dinsmore were one and the same person ever since the death of Mr.
Dinsmore. The lady came to me immediately after that event and requested
me to ascertain if he had made a will. I instituted inquiries and learned
that he had tried to do so, but failed to sign it. She then revealed to
me that she was the wife of Mr. Dinsmore, but that they had separated
only a year after their marriage, although he had allowed her an annual
income of twenty-five hundred dollars for separate maintenance.
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