Now I see my error and regret it , '' he said earnestly . `` Go on , '' replied my lady , while the vague dread grew stronger , and she braced her nerves as for some approaching shock . She forgot Lillian , forgot everything but the strange aspect of the man before her , and the words to which she listened like a statue . Still standing pale and steady , Paul spoke rapidly , while his eyes were full of mingled sternness , pity , and remorse . `` Twenty years ago , an English gentleman met a friend in a little Italian town , where he had married a beautiful wife . The wife had a sister as lovely as herself , and the young man , during that brief stay , loved and married her -- in a very private manner , lest his father should disinherit him . A few months passed , and the Englishman was called home to take possession of his title and estates , the father being dead . He went alone , promising to send for the wife when all was ready . He told no one of his marriage , meaning to surprise his English friends by producing the lovely woman unexpectedly . He had been in England but a short time when he received a letter from the old priest of the Italian town , saying the cholera had swept through it , carrying off half its inhabitants , his wife and friend among others . This blow prostrated the young man , and when he recovered he hid his grief , shut himself up in his country house , and tried to forget . Accident threw in his way another lovely woman , and he married again . Before the first year was out , the friend whom he supposed was dead appeared , and told him that his wife still lived , and had borne him a child . In the terror and confusion of the plague , the priest had mistaken one sister for the other , as the elder did die . '' `` Yes , yes , I know ; go on ! '' gasped my lady , with white lips , and eyes that never left the narrator 's face . `` This friend had met with misfortune after flying from the doomed village with the surviving sister . They had waited long for letters , had written , and , when no answer came , had been delayed by illness and poverty from reaching England . At this time the child was born , and the friend , urged by the wife and his own interest , came here , learned that Sir Richard was married , and hurried to him in much distress . We can imagine the grief and horror of the unhappy man .
In that interview the friend promised to leave all to Sir XXXXX , to preserve the secret till some means of relief could be found ; and with this promise he returned , to guard and comfort the forsaken wife .
England Englishman Italian Lillian Paul Richard left months sternness year