"Yours sincerely,
"ISABEL FOTHERINGHAM.
"P.S. Our secretary, Mrs. Derrick Smith, at the Mary
Wollstonecraft Club, will always be glad to send you any
literature you might require."
Diana read to the end. She put it down with something like a smile. As
she paced the room, her head thrown back, her hands behind her, the
weight had been lifted from her; she breathed from a freer breast.
Very soon she went back to her desk and began to write.
"My dear Oliver,--I did not realize how things were when you
came yesterday. Now I see. You must not marry me. I could not
bear to bring poverty upon you, and--to-day--I do not feel
that I have the strength to meet your mother's and your
sister's opposition.
"Will you please tell Lady Lucy and Mrs. Fotheringham that I
have received their letters? It will not be necessary to
answer them. You will tell them that I have broken off the
engagement.
"You were very good to me yesterday. I thank you with all my
heart. But it is not in my power--yet--to forget it all. My
mother was so young--and it seems but the other day.
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