"I have not that honor, but I hope to do so before we part."
"It was quite dark when you saw me on the bridge - how comes it,
then, that you recollect me so well?"
"I have always been blessed with an excellent memory," said Sir
Norman carelessly, "and I knew your dress, face, and voice
instantly."
"My voice! Then you heard me speak, probably to the watchman
guarding a plague-stricken house?"
"Exactly! and the subject being a very interesting one, I
listened to all you said."
"Indeed I and what possible interest could; the subject have for
you, may I ask?"
"A deeper one than you think!" said Sir Norman, with a slight
tremor in his voice as he thought of the lady, "the watchman told
you the lady you sought for had been carried away dead, and
thrown into the plague-pit!"
"Well," cried the stranger starting violently, "and was it not
true?"
"Only partly. She was carried away in the pest-cart sure enough,
but she was not thrown into the plague-pit!"
"And why?"
"Because, when on reaching that horrible spot, she was found to
be alive!"
"Good Heaven! And what then?"
"Then," exclaimed Sir Norman, in a tone almost as excited as his
own, "she was brought to the house of a friend, and left alone
for a few minutes, while that friend went in search of a doctor.
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