I have been shaking in the
dark. They are beasts; I hate them all. I was sitting playing
cribbage with grandmamma after supper, when Uncle George was
announced. He wanted to speak to me, he said. I took him into the
breakfast room, and there he told me in a fat pompous voice that
I--O Dio, my blood still burns to think of it, and the way in which
he said it--that I was getting myself talked about in the
neighbourhood; that probably I didn't know, owing to my foreign
education, that it wasn't the thing here in England to let oneself
be seen constantly alone in the company of a young man; that he
thought it his duty, etc., etc.

"Thank you," said I,--my very skin felt tight,--"I see that I must
be more underhand in my actions, and contrive to see my friends
entirely on the sly."

"Excuse me, my dear niece," interrupted Uncle George, "but I feel it
my duty to fill a father's place by you. It isn't as if you could
possibly marry this young Norton; he hasn't a penny; and as it is
now some time since first the rumour of your very careless behaviour
reached my ears, I have been able to make full inquiries into the
matter. His antecedents, to say no more--"

Constance, did you ever hear of such infamy. I believe I grew
perfectly green; Heaven knows what I said, but you have seen me lose
my temper once! When I mastered myself, Uncle George was standing by
the door, looking considerably startled; I was on a chair, shaking
from head to foot. After a moment's silence I said:

"I beg your pardon for losing my self-control as I did just now; I
am very sorry, but you have done me a great wrong. I know you meant
it for the best; so we will say no more about it. I only hope that
you will leave me and my friends alone in future. I am twenty-six
and my own mistress, and I care for my good name every whit as much
as you do."

Then he left me, and I came upstairs.

So now they have done it! They have touched my paradise with their
dirty fingers. O Constance! how is it to be borne? My one comfort is
that Gabriel knows nobody, hears nothing; if such talk were to reach
his ears, I should kill myself.

Yet perhaps it is just as well that this blow has come to me. It has
given me the shock I needed. I have made up my mind to keep away
from Gabriel as long as I can; it is best so. Christmas charities,
etc., will serve as a sufficient excuse.

Constance, I am going to tell you all; I trust so to your
understanding and your love. It se