"If I were the guilty wretch you think me," she wrote, "I would willingly
surrender my darling, rather than degrade him by any association with such
a fallen creature. But whatever wrong I have committed against you--and
that wrong was done by my marriage--I have not forfeited the right to my
child's affection."
This letter written, there was nothing more to be done. Jane packed a
travelling-bag with a few necessary items, and that was all the luggage
they could venture to carry away with them.
The afternoon post brought a letter from Brussels, addressed to Miss Jane
Target, which the girl brought in triumph to her mistress.
"There'll be no bother about finding Mr. Austin, ma'am," she cried. "Here's
a letter!"
The letter was in Austin's usual brief careless style, entering into no
explanations; but it told the quarter in which he had found a lodging; so
Clarissa was at least sure of this friendly shelter. It would be a poor
one, no doubt; nor was Austin Lovel by any means a strong rock upon which
to lean in the hour of trouble. But she loved him, and she knew that he
would not turn his back upon her.
The rest of the day seemed long and dreary. Clarissa wandered into the
nursery two or three times in order to assure herself, by the evidence of
her own eyes, of her boy's safety. She found the nursemaid busy packing,
under Mrs. Brobson's direction.
The day waned.
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