st her again." (This no doubt referred
to her ill-advised reception of me, as a total stranger, at Ten Acres
Lodge.) "In the miserable break-up of his domestic life, the Church to
which he now belonged offered him not only her divine consolation,
but the honor, above all earthly distinctions, of serving the cause of
religion in the sacred ranks of the priesthood. Before his departure
for Rome he bade her a last farewell in this world, and forgave her the
injuries that she had inflicted on him. For her sake he asked leave to
say some few words more. In the first place, he desired to do her every
justice, in a worldly sense. Ten Acres Lodge was offered to her as a
free gift for her lifetime, with a sufficient income for all her wants.
In the second place, he was anxious that she should not misinterpret his
motives. Whatever his opinion of her conduct might be, he did not rely
on it as affording his only justification for leaving her. Setting
personal feeling aside, he felt religious scruples (connected with his
marriage) which left him no other alternative than the separation on
which he had resolved. He would briefly explain those scruples, and
mention his authority for entertaining them, before he closed his
letter."

There the page was turned down, and the explanation was concealed from
me.

A faint color stole over her face as I handed the letter back to her.

"It is needless for you to read the end," she said. "You know, under his
own hand, that he has left me; and (if such a thing pleads with you
in his favor) you also know that he is liberal in providing for his
deserted wife."

I attempted to speak. She saw in my face how I despised him, and stopped
me.

"Whatever you may think of his conduct," she continued, "I beg that you
will not speak of it to me. May I ask your opinion (now you have read
his letter) on another matter, in which my own conduct is concerned? In
former days--"

She paused, poor soul, in evident confusion and distress.

"Why speak of those days?" I ventured to say.

"I must speak of them. In former days, I think you were told that my
father's will provided for my mother and for me. You know that we have
enough to live on?"

I had heard of it, at the time of our betrothal--when the marriage
settlement was in preparation. The mother and daughter had each a little
income of a few hundreds a year. The exact amount had escaped my memory.

After answering her to this effect, I waited to he