y with a gentleman, giving
me to understand that I need not feel troubled about her being in want,
for the girl was not friendless, but had those to aid her of the same
sort as herself. Of course, if this young governess were really unworthy
of all this anxiety, as the woman had intimated, then I had not done so
much mischief as I feared, and there was not so much to regret. I threw
off the recollection, and the whole circumstance had completely faded
from my memory, when I learned the truth of the matter from a
seamstress who had lodgings in the same building. This woman gave me an
entirely different version of the case, describing in eloquent terms the
girl's filial devotion to her mother in their dire necessity. I learned
now for the first time the real magnitude of the sin I had committed. I
wanted to tell you all then, but dared not. Now, however, with the grave
yawning beneath me, I have no longer anything to hope or fear in this
world. There is one thing yet which I can do to repair my error and show
that my repentance is sincere. My poor lost darlings had a fortune of
fifty thousand dollars left to them jointly by a deceased uncle. They
were to come into possession of this money when Alice had reached the
age of eighteen and Gracia twenty-one. In case of their death it was to
revert to me. I want to convey this sum to Clemence Graystone, because I
willfully and maliciously misrepresented her character to the man who
would have made her his loved and honored wife. It was a cowardly and
cruel act. I shudder to think what the consequences may have been. It
may be that want and grief have plunged her into crime. I could never
learn her fate, but the thought of her sweetness and purity has
comforted me when I have thought distractedly of her. I could never
connect anything but guileless innocence with those calm, clear eyes,
and that lofty brow, whereon intellect sat enthroned.'

"'But, Gracia,' I interrupted, 'are you aware of the import of your own
words?'

"'I am,' she said, 'and I mean to fulfill them. My mind is perfectly
clear upon the subject. There is no necessity for a lawyer. I will write
out my wishes in a few words, and sign my name without witnesses. I
shall give this into your charge, Wilfred. It is a sacred trust. Find
this girl, if you have to search the wide world over, and tell her of
this conversation by my dying bed.'

"I told her all then that I had learned in the last few months, and
promised