`` It 's true enough that she is to marry Mark , '' I said , half-laughing , half-crying , `` but she does n't care for him . Every beat of her heart is for you . It 's all her stepma 's doings . Mark has got a mortgage on the place , and he told Isabella Clark that , if Phillippa would marry him , he 'd burn the mortgage , and , if she would n't , he 'd foreclose . Phillippa is sacrificing herself to save her stepma for her dead father 's sake . It 's all your fault , '' I cried , getting over my bewilderment . `` We thought you were dead . Why did n't you come home when you were alive ? Why did n't you write ? '' `` I DID write , after I got out of the hospital , several times , '' he said , `` and never a word in answer , Aunt Rachel . What was I to think when Phillippa would n't answer my letters ? '' `` She never got one , '' I cried . `` She wept her sweet eyes out over you . SOMEBODY must have got those letters . '' And I knew then , and I know now , though never a shadow of proof have I , that Isabella Clark had got them -- and kept them . That woman would stick at nothing . `` Well , we 'll sift that matter some other time , '' said Owen impatiently . `` There are other things to think of now . I must see Phillippa . '' `` I 'll manage it for you , '' I said eagerly ; but , just as I spoke , the door opened and Isabella and Mark came in .
Never shall I forget the look XXXXX Isabella 's face .
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