Old Mrs.Jacobs is alive still, at least she was last week; but she has no more claim on that money than any other old woman in town.

I can't suppose you would think me a thief, Mercy; but your letter strikes me as a very strange one.

Suppose I were to discover that there is a gold mine in the orchard,--stranger things than that have happened,--would you say that that also belonged to Mrs.Jacobs and not to me?
The cases are precisely parallel.

You have allowed your impulsive feeling to run away with your judgment; and, as I so often tell you, whenever you do that, you are wrong.

I never thought, however, it would carry you so far as to make you suspect me of a dishonorable act." Stephen was deeply wounded.