She waited for the reply. For a moment, and only for a moment, Louisa hesitated. The girl’s nature was weak, but not depraved. She was honestly attached to her mistress; and she spoke with a courage which Magdalen had not expected from her.
“If you send me away, ma’am,” she said, “I won’t take my character from you till I have told you the truth; I won’t return your kindness by deceiving you a second time. Did my master ever tell you how he engaged me?”
“No. I never asked him, and he never told me.”
“He engaged me, ma’am, with a written character—”
“Yes?”
“The character was a false one.”
Magdalen drew back in amazement. The confession she heard was not the confession she had anticipated.
“Did your mistress refuse to give you a character?” she asked. “Why?”
Louisa dropped on her knees and hid her face in her mistress’s lap. “Don’t ask me!” she said. “I’m a miserable, degraded creature; I’m not fit to be in the same room with you!” Magdalen bent over her, and whispered a question in her ear. Louisa whispered back the one sad word of reply.
“Has he deserted you?” asked Magdalen, after waiting a moment, and thinking first.