She must address a letter to him, announcing that his secret had been betrayed by his own language and conduct, and declaring that she would never again see him, or hold any communication with him, if he persisted in his savage resolution of revenge.

Such was the desperate experiment which Mountjoy's generous and unselfish devotion to Iris now proposed to try.
The servant (duly entrusted with Miss Henley's letter) was placed on the watch--and the event which had been regarded as little better than a forlorn hope, proved to be the event that really took place.

Lord Harry was a passenger by the steamship.
Mountjoy's man presented the letter entrusted to him, and asked respectfully if there was any answer.

The wild lord read it--looked (to use the messenger's own words) like a man cut to the heart--seemed at a loss what to say or do--and only gave a verbal answer: "I sincerely thank Miss Henley, and I promise to write when the ship touches at Madeira." The servant continued to watch him when he went on board the steamer; saw him cast a look backwards, as if suspecting that he might have been followed; and then lost sight of him in the cabin.

The vessel sailed after a long interval of delay, but he never reappeared on the deck.
The ambiguous message sent to her aroused the resentment of Iris; she thought it cruel.