“IamgoingsofarasIknowtosurprise——possiblytoalarm——you。Thereisnoescapingfromit，foryouorforme；itmustbedone。
“ThinkingofhowbesttointroducewhatIamnowobligedtosay，Icanfindnobetterwaythanthis。Imustaskyoutotakeyourmemorybacktoadaywhichwehavebothbitterreasontoregret——thedaywhenGeoffreyDelamaynsentyoutoseemeattheinnatCraigFernie。
“Youmaypossiblynotremember——itunhappilyproducednoimpressiononyouatthetime——thatIfelt，andexpressed，morethanonceonthatoccasion，averygreatdisliketoyourpassingmeoffonthepeopleoftheinnasyourwife。ItwasnecessarytomybeingpermittedtoremainatCraigFerniethatyoushoulddoso。Iknewthis；butstillIshrankfromit。Itwasimpossibleformetocontradictyou，withoutinvolvingyouinthepainfulconsequences，andrunningtheriskofmakingascandalwhichmightfinditswaytoBlanche’sears。Iknewthisalso；butstillmyconsciencereproachedme。Itwasavaguefeeling。Iwasquiteunawareoftheactualdangerinwhichyouwereplacingyourself，orIwouldhavespokenout，nomatterwhatcameofit。Ihadwhatiscalledapresentimentthatyouwerenotactingdiscreetly——nothingmore。AsIloveandhonormymother’smemory——asItrustinthemercyofGod——thisisthetruth。
“Youlefttheinnthenextmorning，andwehavenotmetsince。
“AfewdaysafteryouwentawaymyanxietiesgrewmorethanI