ady? But you
tell me that I owe you the truth, and so I tell you the
truth. Nobody will ever be anything to me, except you; and
you are everything. I do love you; and should it ever be
possible, I will become your wife.

I have said so much, because I feel that I ought to obey
the order you have given me; but pray do not try to see me
or write to me till mamma has arrived. She and papa will
be here in the spring,--quite early in the spring, we
hope; and then you may come to us. What they may say, of
course, I cannot tell; but I shall be true to you.

Your own, with truest affection,

NORA.

Of course, you knew that I loved you, and I don't think
that you are a conjuror at all.

[Illustration: Nora's letter.]

As soon as ever the letter was written, she put on her bonnet, and
went forth with it herself to the post-office. Mrs. Trevelyan stopped
her on the stairs, and endeavoured to detain her, but Nora would not
be detained. "I must judge for myself about this," she said. "If
mamma were here, it would be different, but, as she is not here, I
must judge for myself."

What Mrs. Outhouse might have done had she been at home at the time,
it would be useless to surmise. She was told what had happened
when it occurred, and questioned Nora on the subject. "I thought I
understood from you," she said, with something of severity in her
countenance, "that there was to be nothing between you and Mr.
Stanbury--at any rate, till my brother came home?"

"I never pledged myself to anything of the kind, Aunt Mary," Nora
said. "I think he promised that he would not come here, and I don't
suppose that he means to come. If he should do so, I shall not see
him."

With this Mrs. Outhouse was obliged to be content. The letter was
gone, and could not be stopped. Nor, indeed, had any authority been
delegated to her by which she would have been justified in stopping
it. She could only join her husband in wishing that they both
might be relieved, as soon as possible, from the terrible burden
which had been thrown upon them. "I call it very hard," said Mr.
Outhouse;--"very hard, indeed. If we were to desire them to leave
the house, everybody would cry out upon us for our cruelty; and yet,
while they remain here, they will submit themselves to no authority.
As far as I can see, they may, both of them, do just what they
please, and we can't stop it."

CHAPTER LIV.

MR. GIBSON'S