"He acknowledged himself to have been wrong in misleading his correspondent, and allowing her to imagine that she possessed his heart.

He had not a heart at her disposal.

He had been weak not to write to her before, having been deterred from doing so by the fear of giving her pain; but now he felt that he was bound in honour to tell her the truth.

Having so told her, he would not return to Burton Crescent, if it would pain her to see him there.

He would always have a deep regard for her,"-- oh, Johnny!--"and would hope anxiously that her welfare in life might be complete." That was the letter, as he wrote it on the tablets of his mind under the tree; but the getting it put on to paper was a task, as he knew, of greater difficulty.