Chapter 9

_From Mrs. Noel Vanstone to Mr. Loscombe._

"DEAR SIR--I have read your letter more than once, with the deepest
interest and attention; and the oftener I read it, the more firmly I
believe that there is really such a Letter as you mention in Admiral
Bartram's hands.

"It is my interest that the discovery should be made, and I at once
acknowledge to you that I am determined to find the means of secretly
and certainly making it. My resolution rests on other motives than the
motives which you might naturally suppose would influence me. I only
tell you this, in case you feel inclined to remonstrate. There is good
reason for what I say, when I assure you that remonstrance will be
useless.

"I ask for no assistance in this matter; I will trouble nobody for
advice. You shall not be involved in any rash proceedings on my part.
Whatever danger there may be, I will risk it. Whatever delays may
happen, I will bear them patiently. I am lonely and friendless, and
surely troubled in mind, but I am strong enough to win my way through
worse trials than these. My spirits will rise again, and my time will
come. If that Secret Trust is in Admiral Bartram's possession--when you
next see me, you shall see me with it in my own hands. Yours gratefully,

"MAGDALEN VANSTONE."