She looked at her brother a long time, and the tears gathered in her eyes; then she turned away, and hastily entered her own room. Here she found her maid laying out her clothes for the evening. ‘Never mind now, Elizabeth, I want to lie down quietly.’ As she spoke she crossed to her writing-desk and her eyes fell on a sheet of note-paper on which she had scribbled the first wild words that had come into her head when she sat down to write to George Travers. There they were, staring her in the face, ‘My dearest, dearest one on earth, I have heard of your ruin. Come and let me see you once more. I will give you all I have to enable you to----’; then she had stopped herself and written the more moderate note for his eyes, leaving her real passionate words, the words which had been the expression of her inmost feelings, for the eyes of her maid. She turned to look at the woman, but found she was calmly taking her wrapper out of the wardrobe. Had she seen or not? No trace was visible on her face. Geraldine sat down in front of the glass, and said, ‘You can wash my head, Elizabeth; I think it will refresh me.’ The woman made all the preparations. While she had gone for hot water, Geraldine seized the incriminating note and tore it into a thousand pieces. She had just time to thrust it behind the grate and walk quietly across the room when the maid re-entered. Her eye fell for a moment on the writing-table. ‘She has read it,’ thought Geraldine. She sat quite still for a long time; then she said, ‘What should you say if I were to marry Lord Foreshort after all, Elizabeth?’ Elizabeth started visibly. ‘I should hope your ladyship would be very happy, I’m sure.’ ‘Why were you so surprised?’ ‘I didn’t think your ladyship seemed willing to take him before.’ There was a long pause while her hair was washed, and Elizabeth was rubbing vigorously when Lady Geraldine said, ‘How is your poor sister now?’ ‘The one that was deceived so cruelly?’ ‘Yes. The one that fell in love with a married man.’ ‘Well, your ladyship, I didn’t like to tell you after all your kindness to her in finding her that place and all, but I’m very much afraid she’s gone off to America with him.’ ‘Really! She has done that, has she?’ ‘I was afraid your ladyship would be annoyed, so I didn’t mention it. But she disappeared, and some time afterwards I had a letter from her, telling me about how he had got a bit of land out in Canada, and she had joined him there.’ ‘And what were they doing?’ ‘I’m sorry to say, they seemed doing very well; she wrote most bright and cheerful like. I must beg your ladyship’s pardon for saying it, but they do say the wicked flourish like green bay trees, don’t they, your ladyship?’ ‘I suppose they do, sometimes; but don’t be sorry they are happy, Elizabeth.’ ‘No, your ladyship.’ ‘Elizabeth, I want you to bring all the letters that come for me into my bedroom. Tell the waiter to give them to you.’ ‘Yes, your ladyship.’