"Have you heard anything of Magdalen? I don't know why or how it is;
but since I have known of her husband's death, my old tenderness for her
seems to cling to me more obstinately than ever. Always yours truly,
"HARRIET GARTH."
II
_From Mr. Pendril to Miss Garth._
"Serle Street, January 4th, 1848.
"DEAR MISS GARTH--Of Mrs. Noel Vanstone herself I have heard nothing.
But I have learned, since I saw you, that the report of the position in
which she is left by the death of her husband may be depended upon as
the truth. No legacy of any kind is bequeathed to her. Her name is not
once mentioned in her husband's will.
"Knowing what we know, it is not to be concealed that this circumstance
threatens us with more embarrassment, and perhaps with more distress.
Mrs. Noel Vanstone is not the woman to submit, without a desperate
resistance, to the total overthrow of all her schemes and all her hopes.
The mere fact that nothing whatever has been heard of her since her
husband's death is suggestive to my mind of serious mischief to come.
In her situation, and with her temper, the quieter she is now, the more
inveterately I, for one, distrust her in the future.
Pages:
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016