Her replies were not, under these circumstances, very satisfactory, for she was unable to speak in a free, assenting, confiding spirit.

The consequence was natural.

Mrs.Talbot ceased to write, and Irene did not regret the broken correspondence.

Once Mrs.
Lloyd wrote.

When Irene broke the seal and let her eyes rest upon the signature, a shudder of repulsion ran through her frame, and the letter dropped from her hands to the floor.