began, without any form of
address, in these lines:

"I write, instead of speaking to you, because my self-control has
already been severely tried, and I am not strong enough to bear more.
For my father's sake--not for my own--I must take all the care I can of
the little health that I have left.

"Putting together what you have told me of the visionary creature whom
you saw in the summer-house in Scotland, and what you said when you
questioned me in your room a little while since, I cannot fail to infer
that the same vision has shown itself to you, for the second time. The
fear that I felt, the strange things that I saw (or thought I saw), may
have been imperfect reflections in my mind of what was passing in yours.
I do not stop to inquire whether we are both the victims of a delusion,
or whether we are the chosen recipients of a supernatural communication.
The result, in either case, is enough for me. You are once more under
the influence of Mrs. Van Brandt. I will not trust myself to tell you
of the anxieties and forebodings by which I am oppressed: I will only
acknowledge that my one hope for you is in your speedy reunion with the
worthier object of your constancy and devotion. I still believe, and I
am consoled in believing, that you and your first love will meet again.

"Having written so far, I leave the subject--not to return to it, except
in my own thoughts.

"The necessary preparations for your departure to-morrow are all made.
Nothing remains but to wish you a safe and pleasant journey home. Do
not, I entreat you, think me insensible of what I owe to you, if I say
my farewell words here.

"The little services which you have allowed me to render you have
brightened the closing days of my life. You have left me a treasury
of happy memories which I shall hoard, when you are gone, with miserly
care. Are you willing to add new claims to my grateful remembrance? I
ask it of you, as a last favor--do not attempt to see me again! Do not
expect me to take a personal leave of you! The saddest of all words
is 'Good-by': I have fortitude enough to write it, and no more. God
preserve and prosper you--farewell!

"One more request. I beg that you will not forget what you promised me,
when I told you my foolish fancy about the green flag. Wherever you go,
let Mary's keepsake go with you. No written answer is necessary--I would
rather not receive it. Look up, when you leave the house to-morrow, at
the center window ov