you not to
write to me again."

Alban offered the letter silently to Miss Ladd. She signed to him to
keep it.

"I know what Emily has written," she said; "and I have told her, what I
now tell you--she is wrong; in every way, wrong. It is the misfortune
of her impetuous nature that she rushes to conclusions--and those
conclusions once formed, she holds to them with all the strength of her
character. In this matter, she has looked at her side of the question
exclusively; she is blind to your side."

"Not willfully!" Alban interposed.

Miss Ladd looked at him with admiration. "You defend Emily?" she said.

"I love her," Alban answered.

Miss Ladd felt for him, as Mrs. Ellmother had felt for him. "Trust to
time, Mr. Morris," she resumed. "The danger to be afraid of is--the
danger of some headlong action, on her part, in the interval. Who can
say what the end may be, if she persists in her present way of thinking?
There is something monstrous, in a young girl declaring that it is _her_
duty to pursue a murderer, and to bring him to justice! Don't you see it
yourself?"

Alban still defended Emily. "It seems to me to be a natural impulse,"
he said--"natural, and noble."

"Noble!" Miss Ladd exclaimed.

"Yes--for it grows out of the love which has not died with her father's
death."

"Then you encourage her?"

"With my whole heart--if she would give me the opportunity!"

"We won't pursue the subject, Mr. Morris. I am told by Mrs. Ellmother
that you have something to say to me. What is it?"

"I have to ask you," Alban replied, "to let me resign my situation at
Netherwoods."

Miss Ladd was not only surprised; she was also--a very rare thing with
her--inclined to be suspicious. After what he had said to Emily, it
occurred to her that Alban might be meditating some desperate project,
with the hope of recovering his lost place in her favor.

"Have you heard of some better employment?" she asked.

"I have heard of no employment. My mind is not in a state to give the
necessary attention to my pupils."

"Is that your only reason for wishing to leave me?"

"It is one of my reasons."

"The only one which you think it necessary to mention?"

"Yes."

"I shall be sorry to lose you, Mr. Morris."

"Believe me, Miss Ladd, I am not ungrateful for your kindness."

"Will you let me, in all kindness, say something more?" Miss Ladd
answered. "I don't intrude on your secrets--I only hope that you have no
rash project in