.
If I have yielded to the persuasions of the gentle, the affectionate,
the devoted Wau-nan-gee, it is not so much on my own account as in
consideration of the hope held out to me of a long future of
happiness with the object of my heart's worship. For him I can,
and do make every sacrifice, even to the incurring of your
displeasure, and the condemnation of all who know me. But let
me entreat you to remember, that if he is seemingly guilty, I alone
am truly so, and chargeable for the deep offence that will of course
be attributed to him. Remember that I have planned the whole; and
should it be decreed by fate that we never meet again, I pray God
in his infinite goodness to preserve those whom I now abandon, and
spare them the distraction that weighs upon this severely-tried
heart.

"I promised you a candid explanation of everything relating to what
you saw yesterday. This you will find fully detailed in the
accompanying document, written after you had left me, and before
the return of Ronayne last night from fishing."

"Document! what document?" asked the Virginian, interrupting himself,
and in a voice husky from emotion; "there is nothing here, Mrs.
Headley, but the letter itself."

"Nothing but that and the piece of embroidery which Maria had worked
for me were contained in the packet," was the reply. "In her hurry
she must have forgotten to inclose it."

"In the accompanying document (resumed the Virginian, reading) you
will find the nature of my connexion with Wau-nan-gee fully explained.
You will, of course, make such use of all that is necessary to your
purpose as you may deem advisable; but, as I make that part of the
communication which refers to Wau-nan-gee strictly confidential,
I conjure you never, in the slightest way, to allude to him as
being connected either with my evasion or with the revelation I
have made to you in the inclosure. Adieu, my dear Mrs. Headley.
God grant we may meet again!

"Your own Maria."

During the perusal of this note, Mrs. Headley had watched the
countenance of Ronayne with much anxiety. She saw there evidence
of strong and varied feelings which he made an effort to subdue,
and so far succeeded that, when he had finished he returned the
note to her with a calm she had not expected.

"There is no need of further confirmation now, Mrs. Headley," he
said, with a bitter half-smile. "You have, indeed, probed but to
heal. All my weakness is past. To-morrow I shall be myself ag