I had regretted, truly regretted, the aspersion
which I had thoughtlessly cast on her memory, before I had seen a line
of her letter. But when I had advanced as far as the passage which is
quoted above, I own I felt my mind growing bitterer and bitterer against
Rosanna Spearman as I went on. "Read the rest for yourself," I said,
handing the letter to Betteredge across the table. "If there is anything
in it that I must look at, you can tell me as you go on."
"I understand you, Mr. Franklin," he answered. "It's natural, sir, in
YOU. And, God help us all!" he added, in a lower tone, "it's no less
natural in HER."
I proceed to copy the continuation of the letter from the original, in
my own possession:--
"Having determined to keep the nightgown, and to see what use my love,
or my revenge (I hardly know which) could turn it to in the future,
the next thing to discover was how to keep it without the risk of being
found out.
"There was only one way--to make another nightgown exactly like it,
before Saturday came, and brought the laundry-woman and her inventory to
the house.
"I was afraid to put it off till next day (the Friday); being in doubt
lest some accident might happen in the interval.
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