"
"Theodomir married--and divorced--your mother," said Philip gently.
Diane grew very white.
"And even yet," she said bravely, "I--can not see why we must all be so
worked up. There is more?"
"Yes. Later, after her divorce from Theodomir, your mother married
Norman Westfall--"
"My father," corrected Diane swiftly.
Philip looked away.
"Her second marriage," he said at last, "was childless."
"Philip!" Diane's face flamed. "And I?"
"You," said Baron Tregar, "are the child of Theodomir."
In the strained silence a bird sent a sweet, clear call ringing lightly
over the water.
"That--that can not be!" faltered Diane. "It--it is too preposterous."
"I wish to Heaven it were!" said Philip quietly. "Whether or not it
was Theodomir's wish that his daughter be reared, in the eyes of the
world, as the daughter of Norman Westfall, to protect her from any
consequences incident to his possible discovery and enforced return to
Houdania, it is impossible to say. Hating royalty as he did, he may
have sought thus to shield his daughter from its taint. Why he
weakened and consigned the secret to paper--how or when he hid it in an
ancient candlestick in the home of Norman Westfall, remains shrouded in
utter mystery. It is but one of the many points that need light.
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