IX + 

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 sorely 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. + 