t-chaise, and had
expressed an anxious desire to see her; that on finding she
was out, he had hesitated a moment as to what he should do,
but that at last he had stepped into the lodge, and written a
letter, which he had desired her to deliver to Mrs. Lovell as
soon as she returned. Alice took it with a mixture of fear and
curiosity. The only conjecture she could form was, that it
came from Edward Middleton. The unbroken solitude in which he
had lived--the obstinate silence which he had maintained when
Mrs. Middleton once ventured to address a few lines to him,
imploring him to aid her in the search of his guilty but
unfortunate wife--made her break the seal of this letter with
nervous anxiety.

She glanced at the signature, and, at once relieved and
disappointed, she saw it was not from him, and then read as
follows:--

"Madam,

"As one who, in his ministry, has received from dying lips a
solemn confession--as a man who has witnessed a deep
repentance, and a great affliction, I address you.

"There is one who has been for a while as if she had been dead
to you and yours, but who is yet alive, although her life is
passing away like a morning cloud. In His name, who never
broke the bruised reed, I ask you to smooth her pillow, and to
bring peace and pardon to that weary spirit. She has made the
sacrifice of her life to God; and her only desire is to be
forgiven by those whom she has trespassed against, and to
forgive those who have trespassed against her. I dare not say
more. Just, it is hardly possible that you _can_ be; merciful,
I am certain that you _will_ be. Mrs. Edward Middleton is
at --; she is in the last stage of a rapid consumption, and
before many days are gone by, her spirit will have returned to
the God who gave it. She has confessed to me the sins and the
sorrows of her short and troubled life. One heavy trial she
has been spared, in the knowledge that your life, Madam, has
been saved; and if she could receive from you, from her aunt,
and, above all, from the husband whom she has offended, a
token of forgiveness, her life might still close (I use her
own expression) 'with one untroubled hour.' I heard her murmur
these last words to herself, as, out of a nosegay, which had
been in kindness sent her, she selected a passionflower, the
sight of which affected her strangely.

"I have undertaken this journey for the sole purpose of
informing you of Mrs. Middleton's present residence. I shall
await