mployers; and yet the terms in which she spoke of
them were hard to bear, hard to let pass unchallenged. I heard them,
however, without dissent, for my self-command is wonderful; and we might
have parted as we met, had she not proceeded, in an evil hour, to
criticise the rector's missing daughter, and with the most shocking
perversions to narrate the story of her flight. My nature is so
essentially generous that I can never pause to reason. I flung up my
hand sharply, by way, as well as I remember, of indignant protest; and,
in the act, the packet slipped from my fingers, glanced between the
railings, and fell and sunk in the river. I stood a moment petrified,
and then, struck by the drollery of the incident, gave way to peals of
laughter. I was still laughing when my stepmother reappeared, and the
maid, who doubtless considered me insane, ran off to join her; nor had I
yet recovered my gravity when I presented myself before the lawyer to
solicit a fresh advance. His answer made me serious enough, for it was a
flat refusal; and it was not until I had besought him even with tears,
that he consented to lend me ten pounds from his own pocket. "I am a
poor man," said he, "and you must look for nothing further at my hands."

The landlady met me at the door. "Here, madam," said she, with a curtsey
insolently low, "here is my bill. Would it inconvenience you to settle
it at once?"

"You shall be paid, madam," said I, "in the morning, in the proper
course." And I took the paper with a very high air, but inwardly
quaking.

I had no sooner looked at it than I perceived myself to be lost. I had
been short of money and had allowed my debt to mount; and it had now
reached the sum, which I shall never forget, of twelve pounds thirteen
and fourpence halfpenny. All evening I sat by the fire considering my
situation. I could not pay the bill; my landlady would not suffer me to
remove my boxes; and without either baggage or money, how was I to find
another lodging? For three months, unless I could invent some remedy, I
was condemned to be without a roof and without a penny. It can surprise
no one that I decided on immediate flight; but even here I was
confronted by a difficulty, for I had no sooner packed my boxes than I
found I was not strong enough to move, far less to carry them.

In this strait I did not hesitate a moment, but throwing on a shawl and
bonnet, and covering my face with a thick veil, I betook myself to that
great ba