seberry, contained a correspondence between the husband
and wife at a time when the Colonel's military duties had obliged him to
be absent from home. Mercy tied the letters up again, and passed on to
the papers that lay next in order under her hand.

These consisted of a few leaves pinned together, and headed (in a
woman's handwriting) "My Journal at Rome." A brief examination showed
that the journal had been written by Miss Roseberry, and that it was
mainly devoted to a record of the last days of her father's life.

After replacing the journal and the correspondence in the case, the one
paper left on the table was a letter. The envelope, which was unclosed,
bore this address: "Lady Janet Roy, Mablethorpe House, Kensington,
London." Mercy took the inclosure from the open envelope. The first
lines she read informed her that she had found the Colonel's letter of
introduction, presenting his daughter to her protectress on her arrival
in England.

Mercy read the letter through. It was described by the writer as the
last efforts of a dying man. Colonel Roseberry wrote affectionately
of his daughter's merits, and regretfully of her neglected
education--ascribing the latter to the pecuniary losses which had
forced him to emigrate to Canada in the character of a poor man. Fervent
expressions of gratitude followed, addressed to Lady Janet. "I owe it to
you," the letter concluded, "that I am dying with my mind at ease about
the future of my darling girl. To your generous protection I commit the
one treasure I have left to me on earth. Through your long lifetime
you have nobly used your high rank and your great fortune as a means
of doing good. I believe it will not be counted among the least of your
virtues hereafter that you comforted the last hours of an old soldier by
opening your heart and your home to his friendless child."

So the letter ended. Mercy laid it down with a heavy heart. What a
chance the poor girl had lost! A woman of rank and fortune waiting to
receive her--a woman so merciful and so generous that the father's mind
had been easy about the daughter on his deathbed--and there the daughter
lay, beyond the reach of Lady Janet's kindness, beyond the need of Lady
Janet's help!

The French captain's writing-materials were left on the table. Mercy
turned the letter over so that she might write the news of Miss
Roseberry's death on the blank page at the end. She was still
considering what expressions she should us