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 Richard , 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 . Sir Richard wrote the truth to Lady Trevlyn , meaning to kill himself , as the only way of escape from the terrible situation between two women , both so beloved , both so innocently wronged . The pistol lay ready , but death came without its aid , and Sir Richard was spared the sin of suicide . '' Paul paused for breath , but Lady Trevlyn motioned him to go on , still sitting rigid and white as the marble image near her . `` The friend only lived to reach home and tell the story . It killed the wife , and she died , imploring the old priest to see her child righted and its father 's name secured to it . He promised ; but he was poor , the child was a frail baby , and he waited . Years passed , and when the child was old enough to ask for its parents and demand its due , the proofs of the marriage were lost , and nothing remained but a ring , a bit of writing , and the name .
The priest was very old , had neither friends , money , nor XXXXX to help him ; but I was strong and hopeful , and though a mere boy I resolved to do the work .
England English Italian Paul Richard Trevlyn Years escape left proofs