“My mind got clearer and quieter on the way to this place; and, arrived here, I did what I hope and believe was the best thing I could do.  I consulted two lawyers.  They differed in opinion as to whether we were married or not—­according to the law which decides on such things in Scotland.  The first said Yes.  The second said No—­but advised me to write immediately and tell you the position in which you stood.  I attempted to write the same day, and fell ill as you know.

“Thank God, the delay that has happened is of no consequence.  I asked Blanche, at Windygates, when you were to be married—­and she told me not until the end of the autumn.  It is only the fifth of September now.  You have plenty of time before you.  For all our sakes, make good use of it.

“What are you to do?

“Go at once to Sir Patrick Lundie, and show him this letter.  Follow his advice—­no matter how it may affect me. I should ill requite your kindness, I should be false indeed to the love I bear to Blanche, if I hesitated to brave any exposure that may now be necessary in your interests and in hers.  You have been all that is generous, all that is delicate, all that is kind in this matter.  You have kept my disgraceful secret—­I am quite sure of it—­with the fidelity of an honorable man who has had a woman’s reputation placed in his charge.  I release you, with my whole heart, dear Mr. Brinkworth, from your pledge.  I entreat you, on my knees, to consider yourself free to reveal the truth.  I will make any acknowledgment, on my side, that is needful under the circumstances—­no matter how public it may be.  Release yourself at any price; and then, and not till then, give back your regard to the miserable woman who has laden you with the burden of her sorrow, and darkened your life for a moment with the shadow of her shame.

“Pray don’t think there is any painful sacrifice involved in this.  The quieting of my own mind is involved in it—­and that is all.

“What has life left for me? Nothing but the barren necessity of living.  When I think of the future now, my mind passes over the years that may be left to me in this world.  Sometimes I dare to hope that the Divine Mercy of Christ—­which once pleaded on earth for a woman like me—­may plead, when death has taken me, for my spirit in Heaven.  Sometimes I dare to hope that I may see my mother, and Blanche’s mother, in the better world.  Their hearts were bound together as the hearts of sisters while they were here; and they left to their children the legacy of their love.  Oh, help me to say, if we meet again, that not in vain I promised to be a sister to Blanche!  The debt I owe to her is the hereditary debt of my mother’s gratitude.  And what am I now?  An obstacle in the way of the happiness of her life.  Sacrifice me to that happiness, for God’s sake!  It is the one thing I have left to live for.  Again and again I say it—­I care nothing for myself.  I have no right to be considered; I have no wish to be considered.  Tell the whole truth about me, and call me to bear witness to it as publicly as you please!