‘Love, I dare not write more than this. I dare not let my heart go out to you, as it would, in fondest words. I want to write soberly, wisely, if possible. Wait, dear love, for two little years, and, with God’s help, I shall have won a better position in my profession, a home which, although humble compared with your father’s house, may be not unworthy of a true and loving wife. ‘During those two years of waiting we shall have to live apart. I have promised your father that I will make no attempt to see or communicate with you till after your twenty-first birthday. Even to convey this letter to you I shall have to appeal to his generosity. I shall not break that promise. Dear as my work in Little Yafford has become to me, I shall leave this place as soon as I can hear of an eligible curacy elsewhere. Hitherto my work has been only a labour of love. Henceforward I am a man anxious to succeed in my profession. I do not mean that I am going to sacrifice my Divine calling to the desire to win a home for my sweet wife,--only that I shall, so far as may be justifiable, seek to improve my position. ‘Farewell, dearest. Remember that while I hold myself bound to you, I leave you free; and, if the future should show you a fairer life than that which I can give you, you have but to send me one line, “Cyril, the dream is ended,” and I will submit, as to the will of God. ‘Yours till death, ‘CYRIL CULVERHOUSE.’ This letter Cyril enclosed in an envelope, addressed to Mr. Harefield, with the following note:-- ‘DEAR SIR,--I promised not to write to your daughter until after her twenty-first birthday. She has written to me, and I cannot leave her letter unanswered. I must appeal to your kindness therefore to give her the enclosed letter, read or unread, as it may please you. There is not a word in it that I should blush for you to read, yet I shall be grateful if you deliver the letter unread. I cannot think that you will refuse to make this concession, as, if you do so, you will place me in the position of having received a noble and self-sacrificing letter from your daughter, and of leaving it wholly unacknowledged. ‘Your obedient servant, ‘CYRIL CULVERHOUSE.’ CHAPTER XI. BELLA IN SEARCH OF A MISSION. WHILE taking charge of Bella Scratchell’s destiny, Mrs. Dulcimer’s busy mind had not forgotten the interests of her older _protégé_, Sir Kenrick Culverhouse, whose mortgaged estate was to be set free by means of Beatrix Harefield’s fortune. She was quite pleased with herself for the brilliant idea of disposing comfortably of Cyril by handing him over to Miss Scratchell, and thus leaving Sir Kenrick without a rival in the field.