r me at the door. 'A man is following me,' I said, 'and I want
to get rid of him. Here is my cab fare; wait ten minutes before you give
it to the driver, and let me out at once by the back way!' In a moment I
was out in the mews; in another, I was in the next street; in a third, I
hailed a passing omnibus, and was a free woman again.

"Having now cut off all communication between me and my last lodgings,
the next precaution (in case Midwinter or Armadale are watched) is to
cut off all communication, for some days to come at least, between me
and the hotel. I have written to Midwinter--making my supposititious
mother once more the excuse--to say that I am tied to my nursing duties,
and that we must communicate by writing only for the present. Doubtful
as I still am of who my hidden enemy really is, I can do no more to
defend myself than I have done now."

"August 4th.--The two friends at the hotel had both written to me.
Midwinter expresses his regret at our separation, in the tenderest
terms. Armadale writes an entreaty for help under very awkward
circumstances. A letter from Major Milroy has been forwarded to him from
the great house, and he incloses it in his letter to me.

"Having left the seaside, and placed his daughter safely at the school
originally chosen for her (in the neighborhood of Ely), the major
appears to have returned to Thorpe Ambrose at the close of last week; to
have heard then, for the first time, the reports about Armadale and me;
and to have written instantly to Armadale to tell him so.

"The letter is stern and short. Major Milroy dismisses the report as
unworthy of credit, because it is impossible for him to believe in such
an act of 'cold-blooded treachery,' as the scandal would imply, if the
scandal were true. He simply writes to warn Armadale that, if he is
not more careful in his actions for the future, he must resign all
pretensions to Miss Milroy's hand. 'I neither expect, nor wish for,
an answer to this' (the letter ends), 'for I desire to receive no mere
protestations in words. By your conduct, and by your conduct alone,
I shall judge you as time goes on. Let me also add that I positively
forbid you to consider this letter as an excuse for violating the terms
agreed on between us, by writing again to my daughter. You have no need
to justify yourself in her eyes, for I fortunately removed her from
Thorpe Ambrose before this abominable report had time to reach her;
and I shall take go