you think he is? He says he knows you. Can you guess?
He says you know all his secrets. He says he knows your husband well;
that he treated you very badly, and that you are greatly to be pitied.
Can you guess now? He says he has kissed you--for shame, Hetty! Have
you guessed yet? He was going to tell me something more when we were
interrupted, and I have not seen him since except at a distance. He
is the man with whom you eloped that day when you gave us all such a
fright--Mr. Sidney. I was the first to penetrate his disguise; and that
very morning I had taxed him with it, and he had confessed it. He said
then that he was hiding from a woman who was in love with him; and
I should not be surprised if it turned out to be true; for he is
wonderfully original--in fact what makes me like him is that he is by
far the cleverest man I have ever met; and yet he thinks nothing of
himself. I cannot imagine what he sees in me to care for, though he is
evidently ensnared by my charms. I hope he won't find out how silly I
am. He called me his golden idol--"

Henrietta, with a scream of rage, tore the letter across, and stamped
upon it. When the paroxysm subsided she picked up the pieces, held them
together as accurately as her trembling hands could, and read on.

"--but he is not all honey, and will say the most severe things
sometimes if he thinks he ought to. He has made me so ashamed of my
ignorance that I am resolved to stay here for another term at least, and
study as hard as I can. I have not begun yet, as it is not worth while
at the eleventh hour of this term; but when I return in January I will
set to work in earnest. So you may see that his influence over me is
an entirely good one. I will tell you all about him when we meet; for
I have no time to say anything now, as the girls are bothering me to go
skating with them. He pretends to be a workman, and puts on our skates
for us; and Jane Carpenter believes that he is in love with her. Jane
is exceedingly kindhearted; but she has a talent for making herself
ridiculous that nothing can suppress. The ice is lovely, and the weather
jolly; we do not mind the cold in the least. They are threatening to go
without me--good-bye!

"Ever your affectionate

"Agatha."

Henrietta looked round for something sharp. She grasped a pair of
scissors greedily and stabbed the air with them. Then she became
conscious of her murderous impulse, and she shuddered at it; but in
a moment more he