has misled her into the pride and folly of
refusing you. I am old enough to speak out; and
I can tell you, if she had only been wise enough
to let her own wishes guide her, she would have
said, Yes— and gladly too.

''The original cause of all the mischief, is no
less a person than your worthy uncle— Admiral
Bartram.

"It seems that the admiral took it into his
head (I suppose during your absence) to go to
London by himself; and to satisfy some curiosity
of his own about Norah, by calling in
Portland-place, under pretence of renewing his old
friendship with the Tyrrels. He came at luncheon-
time, and saw Norah; and, from all I can hear,
was apparently better pleased with her than he
expected or wished to be when he came into the
house.

"So far, this is mere guess-work—but it is
unluckily certain that he and Mrs. Tyrrel had
some talk together alone, when luncheon was
over. Your name was not mentioned; but when
their conversation fell on Norah, you were in
both their minds, of course. The admiral
(doing her full justice personally) declared
himself smitten with pity for her hard lot in
life. The scandalous conduct of her sister
must always stand (he feared) in the way of
her future advantage. Who could marry her,
without first making it a condition that she
and her sister were to be absolute strangers
to each other? And even then, the objection
would remain—the serious objection to the
husband's family—of being connected by
marriage with such a woman as Mrs. Noel
Vanstone. It was very sad; it was not the poor
girl's fault—but it was none the less true that
her sister was her rock ahead in life. So he
ran on, with no real ill-feeling towards Norah,
but with an obstinate belief in his own
prejudices, which bore the aspect of ill feeling, and
which people with more temper than judgment
would be but too readily disposed to
resent accordingly.

"Unfortunately, Mrs. Tyrrel is one of those
people. She is an excellent, warm-hearted
woman, with a quick temper and very little
judgment; strongly attached to Norah, and heartily
interested in Norah' s welfare. From all I can
learn, she first resented the expression of the
admiral's opinion, in his presence, as worldly and
selfish in the last degree; and then interpreted it
behind his back, as a hint to her to discourage
his nephew's visits, which was a downright
insult, offered to a lady in her own house. This
was foolish enough so far—but worse folly was
to come.

"As soon as your uncle was gone, Mrs.
Tyrrel, most unwisely and improperly, sent
for Norah; and, repeating the conversation
that had taken place, warned her of the reception
she might expect from the man who stood
towards you in the position of a father, if she
accepted an offer of marriage on your part.
When I tell you that Norah's faithful attachment
to her sister still remains unshaken,
and that there lies hidden under her noble
submission to the unhappy circumstances of her
life, a proud susceptibility to slights of all kinds,
which is deeply seated in her nature—you will
understand the true motive of the refusal
which has so naturally and so justly
disappointed you. They are all three equally to
blame in this matter. Your uncle was wrong
to state his objections as roundly and
inconsiderately as he did. Mrs. Tyrrel was wrong to
let her temper get the better of her, and to
suppose herself insulted where no insult was
intended. And Norah was wrong to place a
scruple of pride, and a hopeless belief in her
sister which no strangers can be expected to
share, above the higher claims of an attachment
which might have secured the happiness
and the prosperity of her future life.

"But the mischief has been done. The
next question is—can the harm be remedied?

"I hope and believe it can. My advice is
this:—Don't take No for an answer. Give her
time enough to reflect on what she has done,
and to regret it (as I believe she will regret
it) in secret—trust to my influence over her to
plead your cause for you at every opportunity I
can find—wait patiently for the right moment—
and ask her again. Men, being accustomed to
act on reflection themselves, are a great deal too
apt to believe that women act on reflection too.
Women do nothing of the sort. They act on
impulse—and, in nine cases out of ten, they are
heartily sorry for it afterwards.

"In the mean while, you must help your own
interests, by inducing your uncle to alter his
opinion—or at least to make the concession of
keeping his opinion to himself. Mrs. Tyrrel has
rushed to the conclusion, that the harm he has
done, he did intentionally—which is as much as
to say, in so many words, that he had a
prophetic conviction, when he came into the house,
of what she would do when he left it. My
explanation of the matter is a much simpler one.
I believe that the knowledge of your attachment
naturally roused his curiosity to see the
object of it, and that Mrs. Tyrrel's injudicious
praises of Norah irritated his objections into
openly declaring themselves. Any way, your
course lies equally plain before you. Use your
influence over your uncle to persuade him into
setting matters right again; trust my settled
resolution to see Norah your wife, before six
months more are over our heads; and believe me,
your friend and well-wisher,

"HARRIET GARTH."

IV.

FROM MRS. DRAKE TO GEORGE BARTRAM.

"St. Crux, April 17th.

"Sir,—I direct these lines to the hotel you
usually stay at in London; hoping that you may
return soon enough from foreign parts to receive
my letter without delay.

"I am sorry to say that some unpleasant
events have taken place at St. Crux, since you
left it, and that my honoured master, the
admiral, is far from enjoying his usual good
health. On both these accounts, I venture to