him. Had it remained
entirely with her she would have returned to him. But this she could not
do unless he would receive her as his wife and promise loyalty to her. "I
do not understand you," she wrote on the 6th of September, in answer to
one of his letters. "It is necessary for you to write more explicitly,
and determine on some mode of conduct. I cannot endure this suspense.
Decide. Do you fear to strike another blow? We live together, or
eternally apart! I shall not write to you again till I receive an answer
to this."

Finally, after allowing her to suffer three months of acute agony, he
summoned up resolution enough to write and tell her he would abide by her
decision. Her business in the North had been satisfactorily settled, for
which she was, alas! to receive but poor thanks; and the welfare of the
child having now become the pivot of her actions, she returned to
England. From Dover she sent him a letter informing him that she was
prepared once more to make his home hers:--

You say I must decide for myself. I have decided that it was most
for the interest of my little girl, and for my own comfort, little
as I expect, for us to live together; and I even thought that you
would be glad some years hence, when the tumult of business was
over, to repose in the society of an affectionate friend, and mark
the progress of our interesting child, whilst endeavoring to be of
use in the circle you at last resolved to rest in, for you cannot
run about forever.

From the tenor of your last letter, however, I am led to imagine
that you have formed some new attachment. If it be so, let me
earnestly request you to see me once more, and immediately. This is
the only proof I require of the friendship you profess for me. I
will then decide, since you boggle about a mere form.

I am laboring to write with calmness; but the extreme anguish I
feel at landing without having any friend to receive me, and even
to be conscious that the friend whom I most wish to see will feel a
disagreeable sensation at being informed of my arrival, does not
come under the description of common misery. Every emotion yields
to an overwhelming flood of sorrow, and the playfulness of my child
distresses me. On her account I wished to remain a few days here,
comfortless as is my situation. Besides, I did not wish to surprise
you. You have told me