re a secret from him whom alone they concerned.

'A sealed letter was on the mantelpiece. "Yes, it is directed to you,
Mademoiselle," said the woman who had followed her. "But we were
wondering what to do with it. A town messenger brought it after you had
gone last night."

'When the landlady had left, Mademoiselle V--- opened the letter and
read--

"MY DEAR AND HONOURED FRIEND.--You have been throughout our
acquaintance absolutely candid concerning your misgivings. But I have
been reserved concerning mine. That is the difference between us. You
probably have not guessed that every qualm you have felt on the
subject of our marriage has been paralleled in my heart to the full.
Thus it happened that your involuntary outburst of remorse yesterday,
though mechanically deprecated by me in your presence, was a last item
in my own doubts on the wisdom of our union, giving them a force that
I could no longer withstand. I came home; and, on reflection, much as
I honour and adore you, I decide to set you free.

"As one whose life has been devoted, and I may say sacrificed, to the
cause of Liberty, I cannot allow your judgment (probably a permanent
one) to be fettered beyond release by a feeling which may be transient
only.

"It would be no less than excruciating to both that I should announce
this decision to you by word of mouth. I have therefore taken the
less painful course of writing. Before you receive this I shall have
left the town by the evening coach for London, on reaching which city
my movements will be revealed to none.

"Regard me, Mademoiselle, as dead, and accept my renewed assurances of
respect, remembrance, and affection."

'When she had recovered from her shock of surprise and grief, she
remembered that at the starting of the coach out of Melchester before
dawn, the shape of a figure among the outside passengers against the
starlit sky had caused her a momentary start, from its resemblance to
that of her friend. Knowing nothing of each other's intentions, and
screened from each other by the darkness, they had left the town by the
same conveyance. "He, the greater, persevered; I, the smaller,
returned!" she said.

'Recovering from her stupor, Mademoiselle V--- bethought herself again of
her employer, Mrs. Newbold, whom recent events had estranged. To that
lady she went with a full heart, and explained everything. Mrs. Newbold
ke