ty as to the course which it might now be least
embarrassing and least dangerous to pursue. Accustomed to let his
impulses direct him on all other occasions, Allan acted on impulse in
the serious emergency that now confronted him. Though his attachment
to Miss Gwilt was nothing like the deeply rooted feeling which he had
himself honestly believed it to be, she had taken no common place in his
admiration, and she filled him with no common grief when he thought of
her now. His one dominant desire, at that critical moment in his life,
was a man's merciful desire to protect from exposure and ruin the
unhappy woman who had lost her place in his estimation, without losing
her claim to the forbearance that could spare, and to the compassion
that could shield her. "I can't go back to Thorpe Ambrose; I can't
trust myself to speak to her, or to see her again. But I can keep her
miserable secret; and I will!" With that thought in his heart, Allan
set himself to perform the first and foremost duty which now claimed
him--the duty of communicating with Mrs. Milroy. If he had possessed a
higher mental capacity and a clearer mental view, he might have
found the letter no easy one to write. As it was, he calculated no
consequences, and felt no difficulty. His instinct warned him to
withdraw at once from the position in which he now stood toward the
major's wife, and he wrote what his instinct counseled him to write
under those circumstances, as rapidly as the pen could travel over the
paper:

"Dunn's Hotel, Covent Garden, Tuesday.

"DEAR MADAM--Pray excuse my not returning to Thorpe Ambrose to-day, as I
said I would. Unforeseen circumstances oblige me to stop in London. I am
sorry to say I have not succeeded in seeing Mrs. Mandeville, for which
reason I cannot perform your errand; and I beg, therefore, with many
apologies, to return the letter of introduction. I hope you will allow
me to conclude by saying that I am very much obliged to you for your
kindness, and that I will not venture to trespass on it any further.

"I remain, dear madam, yours truly,

"ALLAN ARMADALE."

In those artless words, still entirely unsuspicious of the character of
the woman he had to deal with, Allan put the weapon she wanted into Mrs.
Milroy's hands.

The letter and its inclosure once sealed up and addressed, he was free
to think of himself and his future. As he sat idly drawing lines with
his pen on the blotting-paper, the tears came into his e