Out of her sphere - University Library

WHAT CLARE WAITED FOR. 139
then, without a moment's hesitation, an-
swered in the affirmative.
" I wish I had done it sooner," she said
in at one so quiet and modest, that every-
one present felt convinced that in writing
that anonymous letter, she had only acted
under a painful necessity.
'' I felt all along,
from the first night when Mrs. Thornton
did not come home, that something had
happened to her at the Fort. If ^r.
Thornton had been in any state to have
been spoken to, I would have told him and
shown him the note. As it was, I thought
it better to wait till he recovered, and then
tell him everything ; but time went on, and
he seemed to be getting worse instead of
better, and when I heard of the Fort fall-
ing in, I felt as if something must be done
—it was impossible for me to keep silence
longer. I would have signed the note wdth
my own name," said Clare, apologizing to
the mayor, with a politeness that impressed