“Was he coming to blame me—to charge me with the disgrace I had brought upon him and myself, and then cast me off forever? Had I sinned past all forgiveness? I asked myself again and again.
“I seized a pencil and wrote:
“‘Yes, come at once, if you can forgive your repentant
“‘Meta.’
“I folded and enclosed it in an envelope, without sealing it, and giving it to a maid, told her to carry it down to Lord Dunforth, who, she said, was awaiting an answer.
“I did wrong to send him a written reply. I ought to have gone to him, even if I had been obliged to crawl upon my hands and knees to do so; but I was weak—I had not yet left my room, was able only to sit up for an hour or two at a time, and I thought, of course, he could come to me. I never dreamed of treachery.”
“Treachery, auntie!” exclaimed Brownie, who was intensely interested in the sad tale.
“Ah, treachery, child, as you will soon see, and I might have known it, too, had my wits been about me.
“The maid came back almost immediately.
“I looked up in surprise as she entered.