o the town. The instant he caught sight
of me he stopped, colored up, took off his hat, hesitated, and turned
aside down a lane behind him, which I happen to know would take him
exactly in the contrary direction to the direction in which he was
walking when he first saw me. His conduct said in so many words, 'Miss
Milroy may hear of it; I daren't run the risk of being seen speaking to
you.' Men have used me heartlessly; men have done and said hard things
to me; but no man living ever yet treated me as if I was plague-struck,
and as if the very air about me was infected by my presence!

"I say no more. When he walked away from me down that lane, he walked to
his death. I have written to Midwinter to expect me in London nest week,
and to be ready for our marriage soon afterward."

"Four o'clock.--Half an hour since, I put on my bonnet to go out and
post the letter to Midwinter myself. And here I am, still in my room,
with my mind torn by doubts, and my letter on the table.

"Armadale counts for nothing in the perplexities that are now torturing
me. It is Midwinter who makes me hesitate. Can I take the first of
those three steps that lead me to the end, without the common caution
of looking at consequences? Can I marry Midwinter, without knowing
beforehand how to meet the obstacle of my husband, when the time
comes which transforms me from the living Armadale's wife to the dead
Armadale's widow?

"Why can't I think of it, when I know I _must_ think of it? Why can't
I look at it as steadily as I have looked at all the rest? I feel his
kisses on my lips; I feel his tears on my bosom; I feel his arms round
me again. He is far away in London; and yet, he is here and won't let me
think of it!

"Why can't I wait a little? Why can't I let Time help me? Time? It's
Saturday! What need is there to think of it, unless I like? There is
no post to London to-day. I _must_ wait. If I posted the letter, it
wouldn't go. Besides, to-morrow I may hear from Mrs. Oldershaw. I ought
to wait to hear from Mrs. Oldershaw. I can't consider myself a free
woman till I know what Mrs. Oldershaw means to do. There is a necessity
for waiting till to-morrow. I shall take my bonnet off, and lock the
letter up in my desk."

"Sunday morning.--There is no resisting it! One after another the
circumstances crowd on me. They come thicker and thicker, and they all
force me one way.

"I have got Mother Oldershaw's answer. The wretch fawns on me, and
c