I might accept your attachment, for I might feel I was not
wronging you. How can I feel this in your case? You have a future to
look to. You are an excellent servant; you can get another place--a far
better place than mine. You can refer to me; and if the character I give
is not considered sufficient, you can refer to the mistress you served
before me--"
At the instant when that reference to the girl's last employer
escaped Magdalen's lips, Louisa snatched her hand away and started up
affrightedly from her chair. There was a moment's silence. Both mistress
and maid were equally taken by surprise.
Magdalen was the first to recover herself.
"Is it getting too dark?" she asked, significantly. "Are you going to
light the candles, after all?"
Louisa drew back into the dimmest corner of the room.
"You suspect me, ma'am!" she answered out of the darkness, in a
breathless whisper. "Who has told you? How did you find out--?" She
stopped, and burst into tears. "I deserve your suspicion," she said,
struggling to compose herself. "I can't deny it to _you_. You have
treated me so kindly; you have made me so fond of you! Forgive me, Mrs.
Vanstone--I am a wretch; I have deceived you.
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