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Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889

"The New Magdalen"

I
won't give up your name; I won't restore your character! Do your
worst; I defy you!"
She poured out those reckless words in one headlong flow which
defied interruption. There was no answering her until she was too
breathless to say more. Grace seized her opportunity the moment
it was within her reach.
"You defy me?" she returned, resolutely. "You won't defy me long.
I have written to Canada. My friends will speak for me."
"What of it, if they do? Your friends are strangers here. I am
Lady Janet's adopted daughter. Do you think she will believe your
friends? She will believe me. She will burn their letters if they
write. She will forbid th e house to them if they come. I shall
be Mrs. Horace Holmcroft in a week's time. Who can shake _my_
position? Who can injure Me?"
"Wait a little. You forget the matron at the Refuge."
"Find her, if you can. I never told you her name. I never told
you where the Refuge was."
"I will advertise your name, and find the matron in that way."
"Advertise in every newspaper in London. Do you think I gave a
stranger like you the name I really bore in the Refuge? I gave
you the name I assumed when I left England.


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