gnor was impatient
to write to Mr. King; but Madame, who had learned precaution and
management by the trials and disappointments of a changing life,
thought it best to wait till they could inform him of the actual fact.
As Rosa had never been in the habit of writing oftener than once in
four or five weeks, they felt no uneasiness until after that time had
elapsed; and even then they said to each other, "She delays writing,
as we do, until everything is arranged." But when seven or eight weeks
had passed, Madame wrote again, requesting an immediate answer. Owing
to the peculiar position of the sisters, letters to them had always
been sent under cover to Mr. Fitzgerald; and when this letter arrived,
he was naturally curious to ascertain whether Madame was aware of his
marriage. It so happened that it had not been announced in the only
paper taken by the Signor; and as they lived in a little foreign
world of their own, they remained in ignorance of it. Having read the
letter, Mr. Fitzgerald thought, as Rosa was not in a condition to read
it, it had better be committed to the flames. But fearing that Madame
or the Signor might come to Savannah in search of tidings, and that
some unlucky accident might bring them to speech of his bride, he
concluded it was best to ward off such a contingency. He accordingly
wrote a very studied letter to Madame, telling her that, with her
knowledge of the world, he supposed she must be well aware that the
daughter of a quadroon slave could not be legally recognized as the
wife of a Southern gentleman; that he still loved Rosa better than any
other woman, but wishing for legal heirs to his hereditary estate, it
was necessary for him to marry. He stated that Rosa was recovering
from a slow fever, and had requested him to say that they must not
feel anxious about her; that she had everything for her comfort, had
been carefully attended by two good nurses, was daily getting better,
and would write in a few weeks; meanwhile, if anything retarded her
complete recovery, he would again write.

This letter he thought would meet the present emergency. His plans
for the future were unsettled. He still hoped that Rosa, alone and
unprotected as she was, without the legal ownership of herself, and
subdued by sickness and trouble, would finally accede to his terms.

She, in her unconscious state, was of course ignorant of this
correspondence. For some time after she recognized her nurses, she
continued t