LETTER XXIII.
Palace of Rhoda.
My very dear Mother:
I embrace the first leisure I can command, since closing my last letter, to resume the subject which filled its pages.
This letter, however, I shall withhold, until I either have authority to send it to you, or circumstances render it expedient to destroy it; but in order to keep a record of the events now transpiring, I write them down in the shape of an epistle to my dear mother, so that hereafter, if it be necessary to refer to it for facts, there may be written evidence of them.
The letter of Prince Mœris, which the queen placed in my hands, was dated some years back, and, no doubt, on noticing this, my countenance betrayed surprise; for she said quickly—
"Read that first. I conceal nothing from you. You shall know from the beginning."
By permission of her majesty, I took a copy of the letter, and of the two that follow. It was dated—
"Castle of Bubastis, Pelusian Delta.