Pagina 138 van 483

"And do you also believe that I am so very, very wicked? Do you

also join with my enemies to crush me, to condemn me as a

murderer?" Her voice was suffocated with sobs.

"Rise, my poor girl," said Elizabeth; "why do you kneel, if you

are innocent? I am not one of your enemies, I believed you

guiltless, notwithstanding every evidence, until I heard that you

had yourself declared your guilt. That report, you say, is false;

and be assured, dear Justine, that nothing can shake my

confidence in you for a moment, but your own confession."