d look more innocent and respectable so far; but
her hiding the property between the mattresses of her bed--the very
first place that any experienced man would think of looking in--was such
an amazingly stupid thing to do, that I really can't account for it,
unless her mind had more weighing on it than it was able to bear, which,
considering the heavy stakes she played for, is likely enough. Anyhow,
her hands are tied now, and her tongue too, for the matter of that. Give
my respects to your mistress, and tell her that her runaway husband and
her lying maid will never either of them harm her again as long as they
live. She has nothing to do now but to pluck up her spirits and live
happy. Here's long life to her and to you, William, in the last glass of
ale; and here's the same toast to myself in the bottom of the jug."

With those words Mr. Dark pocketed his large snuff-box, gave a last wink
with his bright eye, and walked rapidly away, whistling, to catch the
London coach. From that time to this he and I have never met again.

A few last words relating to my mistress and to the other persons
chiefly concerned in this narrative will conclude all that it is now
necessary for me to say.

For some months the relatives and friends, and I myself, felt sad
misgivings on my poor mistress's account. We doubted if it was possible,
with such a quick, sensitive nature as hers, that she could support the
shock which had been inflicted on her. But our powers of endurance are,
as I have learned to believe, more often equal to the burdens laid upon
us than we are apt to imagine. I have seen many surprising recoveries
from illness after all hope had been lost, and I have lived to see my
mistress recover from the grief and terror which we once thought would
prove fatal to her. It was long before she began to hold up her head
again; but care and kindness, and time and change wrought their effect
on her at last. She is not now, and never will be again, the woman she
was once; her manner is altered, and she looks older by many a year than
she really is. But her health causes us no anxiety now; her spirits are
calm and equal, and I have good hope that many quiet years of service in
her house are left for me still. I myself have married during the long
interval of time which I am now passing over in a few words. This change
in my life is, perhaps, not worth mentioning, but I am reminded of my
two little children when I speak of my mistress i