Then she sat down to her desk and wrote three letters;
one was to Mrs Lawrence; one to the chairman of the church committee,
who had requested her resignation; the third was to Mr Stuart, and
read thus:
"My Dear Mr Stuart,--Many strange things have occurred to me since I
saw you. I have learned the name of my father, and this knowledge
reveals the fact to me that your unfortunate wife was my half-sister.
I have learned, too, that the loss of my position here as organist is
not due to the narrow prejudice of the committee regarding the shadow
on my birth, but to malicious stories put in circulation by Mrs
Lawrence, relating to me.
"Infamous and libellous tales regarding my life have been told, and
must be refuted. I have written to Mrs Lawrence demanding a letter
from her, clearing my personal character, or giving her the
alternative of appearing in court to answer the charge of defamation
of character. I have also written to the church committee requesting
them to meet me here in my apartments to-morrow, and explain their
demand for my resignation.
"I now write to you my last letter and my farewell.
"In the overwrought and desperate mood in which you found me, it did
not seem a sin for me to go away with the man who loved me and whom I
loved, before false ideas of life and false ideas of duty made him
the husband of another.
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