The New Magdalen

Some letters, tied together with a ribbon, attracted Mercy's attention

first. The ink in which the addresses were written had faded with

age. The letters, directed alternately to Colonel Roseberry and to the

Honorable Mrs. Roseberry, contained a correspondence between the husband

and wife at a time when the Colonel's military duties had obliged him to

be absent from home. Mercy tied the letters up again, and passed on to

the papers that lay next in order under her hand.

These consisted of a few leaves pinned together, and headed (in a

woman's handwriting) "My Journal at Rome." A brief examination showed

that the journal had been written by Miss Roseberry, and that it was

mainly devoted to a record of the last days of her father's life.

After replacing the journal and the correspondence in the case, the one

paper left on the table was a letter. The envelope, which was unclosed,

bore this address: "Lady Janet Roy, Mablethorpe House, Kensington,

London." Mercy took the inclosure from the open envelope. The first

lines she read informed her that she had found the Colonel's letter of

introduction, presenting his daughter to her protectress on her arrival

in England.

Mercy read the letter through. It was described by the writer as the

last efforts of a dying man. Colonel Roseberry wrote affectionately

of his daughter's merits, and regretfully of her neglected

education--ascribing the latter to the pecuniary losses which had

forced him to emigrate to Canada in the character of a poor man. Fervent

expressions of gratitude followed, addressed to Lady Janet. "I owe it to

you," the letter concluded, "that I am dying with my mind at ease about

the future of my darling girl. To your generous protection I commit the

one treasure I have left to me on earth. Through your long lifetime

you have nobly used your high rank and your great fortune as a means

of doing good. I believe it will not be counted among the least of your

virtues hereafter that you comforted the last hours of an old soldier by

opening your heart and your home to his friendless child."

So the letter ended. Mercy laid it down with a heavy heart. What a

chance the poor girl had lost! A woman of rank and fortune waiting to

receive her--a woman so merciful and so generous that the father's mind

had been easy about the daughter on his deathbed--and there the daughter

lay, beyond the reach of Lady Janet's kindness, beyond the need of Lady

Janet's help!

The French captain's writing-materials were left on the table. Mercy

turned the letter over so that she might write the news of Miss

Roseberry's death on the blank page at the end. She was still

considering what expressions she should use, when the sound of

complaining voices from the next room caught her ear. The wounded men

left behind were moaning for help--the deserted soldiers were losing

their fortitude at last.