"
In due course this charming communication reached Lady Honoria, bearing
a London post-mark. She read and re-read it, and soon mastered its
meaning. Then, after a night's thought, she took the "Riter's" advice
and wrote to Elizabeth, sending her a copy of the letter (her own),
vehemently repudiating all belief in it, and asking for a reply that
should dissipate this foul slander from her mind for ever.
The answer came by return. It was short and artful.
"Dear Lady Honoria Bingham," it ran, "you must forgive me if I decline
to answer the questions in your letter. You will easily understand that
between a desire to preserve a sister's reputation and an incapacity (to
be appreciated by every Christian) to speak other than the truth--it
is possible for a person to be placed in the most cruel of positions--a
position which I am sure will command even your sympathy, though
under such circumstances I have little right to expect any from a wife
believing herself to have been cruelly wronged. Let me add that nothing
short of the compulsion of a court of law will suffice to unseal my
lips as to the details of the circumstances (which are, I trust,
misunderstood) alluded to in the malicious anonymous letter of which you
inclose a copy.
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