"Of course there was a terrible scene, and he obliged me to confess
everything, although he had heard enough to enable him to comprehend the
whole, and then he sternly repudiated me; but, scorning the scandal which
would attend proceedings for a divorce, he gave me a meager stipend for
separate maintenance, and told me he never wished to look upon my face
again. He settled his business, sold his property, and returned to New
York with you and your nurse, leaving me to my fate. He forbade me to
live under the name of Dinsmore, but I would not resume my maiden
name, and so adopted that of Mrs. Richmond Montague. But I still
treasured that certificate and my own also, for I meant, if I should
outlive him, to claim his fortune, and also kept myself pretty well
posted regarding his movements.
"Shortly after our separation my only sister died, and her son, Louis,
was thus left destitute, and an orphan. I believed that I could make him
useful to me, so I adopted him. We have roved a great deal, for we have
had to eke out my limited income by the use of our wits. My best game,
though, was with the crescents which Miss Dinsmore gave me as a wedding
present, and which I had duplicated several times.
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