The time when it
could have distressed her was gone by; the scales had long since fallen
from her eyes. Mr. Clare himself would have been satisfied if he had
seen the quiet contempt on her face as she laid aside his letter.
The only serious thought it cost her was a thought in which Kirke was
concerned. The careless manner in which he had referred in her presence
to the passengers on board his ship, without mentioning any of them by
their names, showed her that Frank must have kept silence on the subject
of the engagement once existing between them. The confession of that
vanished delusion was left for her to make, as part of the story of the
past which she had pledged herself unreservedly to reveal.
She wrote to Miss Garth, and sent the letter to the post immediately.
The next morning brought a line of rejoinder. Miss Garth had written
to secure the cottage at Shanklin, and Mr. Merrick had consented to
Magdalen's removal on the following day. Norah would be the first to
arrive at the house; and Miss Garth would follow, with a comfortable
carriage to take the invalid to the railway. Every needful arrangement
had been made for her; the effort of moving was the one effort she would
have to make.
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