When Sir George left the parlour, he retired to
his own apartment, and calling for pen and ink,
addre&longs;&longs;ed the following letter to Rebecca:

TO MISS LITTLETON.

“With a heart fully &longs;en&longs;ible of the merit of the object
I pre&longs;ume to addre&longs;s, how is it po&longs;&longs;ible but I mu&longs;t al&longs;o
be &longs;en&longs;ible of the fear of offending her? pardon me,
dear young Lady, if almo&longs;t unacquainted with the

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thou&longs;and little delicacies expected by your &longs;ex from
tho&longs;e of ours, who venture to offer their friend&longs;hip and
a&longs;&longs;i&longs;tance to innocence and beauty; pardon me, I &longs;ay,
if my expre&longs;&longs;ions are not &longs;ufficiently denotive of my respect
and e&longs;teem, while I venture to a&longs;k if the &longs;ituation
my &longs;i&longs;ter offers you is perfectly con&longs;onant with your
expectations and wi&longs;hes; yet I ought to know the modesty,
the humility of your mind, will lead you to tell
me it is.

“But, alas! I too well know the di&longs;po&longs;ition of
Lady O&longs;&longs;iter to imagine a heart, like your's, replete
with &longs;en&longs;ibility, can enjoy any tolerable degree of tranquillity,
when &longs;ubject to her caprice and ill humour: I
mu&longs;t therefore entreat my lovely friend to accept not
from me, but as a legacy from my mother (for I am
&longs;en&longs;ible &longs;he de&longs;igned it, though the &longs;udden &longs;troke that
deprived us of her prevented her putting her de&longs;igns in
execution) the enclo&longs;ed two thou&longs;and pounds, which
will, at lea&longs;t, place you above dependance on the weak
and unworthy.

“Permit me al&longs;o to a&longs;&longs;ure you, dear amiable Mi&longs;s
Littleton, that, in every future period of my life, I
&longs;hall be happy to convince you how much I am intere&longs;ted
in your welfare, and that nothing would give me more
&longs;incere plea&longs;ure, than being allowed to devote my life
and fortune to the promotion of your felicity.

“I am, with every token of e&longs;teem and re&longs;pect,
your friend,

Rebecca could not read this letter without emotion;
yet did &longs;he not he&longs;itate what an&longs;wer to return; the letter
it&longs;elf &longs;he carefully locked up in her cabinet, but
the bank-bills &longs;he &longs;ealed up in the following note:

TO SIR GEORGE WORTHY.

“Rebecca Littleton returns her mo&longs;t grateful acknowledgments
to Sir George Worthy for the kind solicitude
he evinces for her happine&longs;s. She begs leave
to return his noble pre&longs;ent, which &longs;he cannot think of

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accepting, as it would lay her under an obligation too
oppre&longs;&longs;ive to a &longs;pirit which Sir George is mi&longs;taken in
thinking humble. Rebecca feels her&longs;elf highly satisfied
in the protection of Lady O&longs;&longs;iter, and, though
&longs;he feels grateful for the offered friend&longs;hip of the &longs;on
of her ever-lamented benefactre&longs;s, &longs;he mu&longs;t beg leave
to decline it, as the va&longs;t di&longs;tance fortune has placed between
them renders it impo&longs;&longs;ible to cultivate true friendship,
which can only &longs;ub&longs;i&longs;t between per&longs;ons on an
equality with each other. Rebecca wi&longs;hes to be retained
in the memory of Sir George only as the &longs;ervant
of his &longs;i&longs;ter, and, at the &longs;ame time, a&longs;&longs;ures him, the
&longs;on of Lady Mary Worthy will ever be retained in her
mind with &longs;ervent wi&longs;hes for his happine&longs;s.”

When &longs;he had &longs;ent away this note, &longs;he again read
over Sir George's letter; a tear, almo&longs;t unknown to
her&longs;elf, fell on it as &longs;he peru&longs;ed with attention his offers
of friend&longs;hip: but &longs;he &longs;oon recollected her&longs;elf, ha&longs;tily
bru&longs;hed away the token of her weakne&longs;s, and, returning
the letter to her cabinet, began to prepare for her
removal to town, whither Lady O&longs;&longs;iter intended returning
the next day.