Don't attempt to guess what it
is. You might guess for ages, and be no nearer than you are now to the
discovery of the truth. Your affectionate sister,
"NORAH BARTRAM."
_(Added by Miss Garth.)_
"MY DEAR CHILD--If I had ever lost my old loving recollection of you,
I should feel it in my heart again now, when I know that it has pleased
God to restore you to us from the brink of the grave. I add these lines
to your sister's letter because I am not sure that you are quite so fit
yet, as she thinks you, to accept her proposal. She has not said a
word of her husband or herself which is not true. But Mr. Bartram is a
stranger to you; and if you think you can recover more easily and more
pleasantly to yourself under the wing of your old governess than under
the protection of your new brother-in-law, come to me first, and trust
to my reconciling Norah to the change of plans. I have secured the
refusal of a little cottage at Shanklin, near enough to your sister to
allow of your seeing each other whenever you like, and far enough away,
at the same time, to secure you the privilege, when you wish it, of
being alone. Send me one line before we meet to say Yes or No, and I
will write to Shanklin by the next post.
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