NO NAME.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE WOMAN IN WHITE," &c.

BETWEEN THE SCENES.
I.

[Extract from the Advertising Columns of The
Times:]

"AN UNKNOWN FRIEND is requested to mention
(by advertisement) an address at which a
letter can reach him. The receipt of the information
which he offers, will be acknowledged by
a reward of Five Pounds."

II.
FROM CAPTAIN WRAGGE TO MAGDALEN.

"Birmingham, July 2nd, 1847.

"My dear Girl,

"The box containing the articles of costume
which you took away by mistake, has come safely
to hand. Consider it under my special protection,
until I hear from you again.

"I embrace this opportunity to assure you,
once more, of my unalterable fidelity to your
interests. Without attempting to intrude myself
into your confidence, may I inquire whether
Mr. Noel Vanstone has consented to do you
justice? I greatly fear he has declined—in which
case, I can lay my hand on my heart, and solemnly
declare that his meanness revolts me. Why do I
feel a foreboding that you have appealed to him
in vain? Why do I find myself viewing this
fellow in the light of a noxious insect? We
are total strangers to each other; I have no
sort of knowledge of him, except the knowledge
I picked up in making your inquiries. Has my
intense sympathy with your interests made my
perceptions prophetic? or, to put it fancifully,
is there really such a thing as a former state of
existence? and has Mr. Noel Vanstone mortally
insulted me—say, in some other planet?

"I write, my dear Magdalen, as you see, with
my customary dash of humour. But I am serious
in placing my services at your disposal. Don't
let the question of terms cause you an instant's
hesitation. I accept, beforehand, any terms you
like to mention. If your present plans point
that way—I am ready to squeeze Mr. Noel Vanstone,
in your interests, till the gold oozes out
of him at every pore. Pardon the coarseness of
this metaphor. My anxiety to be of service to
you rushes into words; lays my meaning, in the
rough, at your feet; and leaves your taste to
polish it with the choicest ornaments of the
English language.

"How is my unfortunate wife? I am afraid
you find it quite impossible to keep her up at
heel, or to mould her personal appearance into
harmony with the eternal laws of symmetry and
order. Does she attempt to be too familiar
with you? I have always been accustomed to
check her, in this respect. She has never been
permitted to call me anything but Captain; and
on the rare occasions, since our union, when
circumstances may have obliged her to address me
by letter, her opening form of salutation has been
rigidly restricted to 'Dear Sir.' Accept these
trifling domestic particulars as suggesting hints
which may be useful to you in managing Mrs.
Wragge: and believe me, in anxious expectation
of hearing from you again,

Devotedly yours,

"HORATIO WRAGGE."

III.

FROM NORAH TO MAGDALEN.

[Forwarded, with the Two Letters that follow it,
from the Post-office, Birmingham.]

"Westmoreland House, Kensington,
"July 1st.

"My dearest Magdalen,

"When you write next (and pray write soon!)
address your letter to me at Miss Garth's. I
have left my situation; and some little time may
elapse before I find another.

"Now it is all over, I may acknowledge to
you, my darling, that I was not happy. I tried
hard to win the affection of the two little girls I
had to teach; but they seemed, I am sure I can't
tell why, to dislike me from the first. Their
mother I have no reason to complain of. But
their grandmother, who was really the ruling
power in the house, made my life very hard to
me. My inexperience in teaching was a constant
subject of remark with her; and my difficulties
with the children were always visited on me as
if they had been entirely of my own making. I
tell you this, so that you may not suppose I regret
having left my situation. Far from it, my
love—I am glad to be out of the house.

I have saved a little money, Magdalen; and
I should so like to spend it in staying a few
days with you. My heart aches for a sight of
my sister; my ears are weary for the sound of