Two days after this Mrs. Fenwick put Miss Marrable's letter into Mr. Gilmore's hand,--having perceived that it was specially written that it might be so treated. She kept it in her pocket till she should chance to see him, and at last handed it to him as she met him walking on his own grounds. "I have a letter from Loring," she said. "From Mary?" "No;--from Mary's aunt. I have it here, and I think you had better read it. To tell you the truth, Harry, I have been looking for you ever since I got it. Only you must not make too much of it." Then he read the letter. "What do you mean," he asked, "by making too much of it?" "You must not suppose that Mary is the same as before she saw this cousin of hers." "But she is the same." "Well;--yes, in body and in soul, no doubt. But such an experience leaves a mark which cannot be rubbed out quite at once." "You mean that I must wait before I ask her again." "Of course you must wait. The mark must be rubbed out first, you know." "I will wait; but as for the rubbing out of the mark, I take it that will be altogether beyond me. Do you think, Mrs. Fenwick, that no woman should ever, under any circumstances, marry one man when she loves another?" She could not bring herself to tell him that in her opinion Mary Lowther would of all women be the least likely to do so. "That is one of those questions," she said, "which it is almost impossible for a person to answer. In the first place, before answering it, we should have a clear definition of love." "You know what I mean well enough." "I do know what you mean, but I hardly do know how to answer you. If you went to Mary Lowther now, she would take it almost as an insult; and she would feel it in that light, because she is aware that you know of this story of her cousin." "Of course I shall not go to her at once." "She will never forget him altogether." "Such things cannot be forgotten," said Gilmore. "Nevertheless," said Mrs. Fenwick, "it is probable that Mary will be married some day. These wounds get themselves cured as do others." "I shall never be cured of mine," said he, laughing. "As for Mary, I hardly know what to think. I suppose girls do marry without caring very much for the men they take. One sees it every day; and then afterwards, they love their husbands. It isn't very romantic, but it seems to me that it is so." "Don't think of it too much, Harry," said Mrs. Fenwick. "If you still are devoted to her--" "Indeed I am." "Then wait awhile, and we will have her at Bullhampton again. You know at any rate what our wishes are."