Shestoodimmovable，onlyhereyeslookedanywayratherthanencounterhermaster’ssteadygaze。’Molly，mydear！’’Papa！Ididnotknowyouwereathome，’saidinnocent，wonderingMolly。’Bethia，keepyourword。HereisMissMolly；giveherthenote。’’Indeed，Miss，Icouldn’thelpit！’Mollytookthenote，butbeforeshecouldopenit，herfathersaid，—’That’sall，mydear；youneednotreadit。Giveittome。Tellthosewhosentyou，Bethia，thatalllettersforMissMollymustpassthroughmyhands。
Nowbeoffwithyou，goosey，andgobacktowhereyoucamefrom。’’Papa，Ishallmakeyoutellmewhomycorrespondentis。’’We’llseeaboutthat，by—and—by。’Shewentalittlereluctantly，withungratifiedcuriosity，upstairstoMissEyre，whowasstillherdailycompanion，ifnothergoverness。Heturnedintotheemptydining—room，shutthedoor，brokethesealofthenote，andbegantoreadit。Itwasaflaminglove—letterfromMrCoxe；
whoprofessedhimselfunabletogoonseeingherdayafterdaywithoutspeakingtoherofthepassionshehadinspired—an’eternalpassion，’
hecalledit；onreadingwhichMrGibsonlaughedalittle。Wouldshenotlookkindlyathim？wouldshenotthinkofhimwhoseonlythoughtwasofher？andsoon，withaveryproperadmixtureofviolentcomplimentstoherbeauty。Shewasfair，notpale；hereyeswereloadstars，herdimplesmarksofCupid’sfinger，&；c。MrGibsonfinishedreadingit；andbegantothinkaboutitinhisownmind。
’Whowouldhavethoughttheladhadbeensopoetical；but，tobesure，there’sa\"Shakespeare\"inthesurgerylibrary：I’lltakeitawayandput\"Johnson’sDictionary\"instead。Onecomfortistheconvictionofherperfectinnocence—ignorance，Ishouldrathersay—foritiseasytoseeit’sthefirst\"confessionofhislove，\"ashecallsit。Butit’sanawfulworry—tobeginwithloverssoearly。Why，she’sonlyjustseventeen，—notseventeen，indeed，tillJuly；notforsixweeksyet。Sixteenandthree—quarters！