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330 ANNALS OF NEEDLEWOMEN.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
» Chapter Iv.
tMs first visit Anne was , however , so mysterious about her antecedentsthat Mrs . D owned she left her with eicion that
they were , two artful girls , who had . , imposed very on susp her young brother ' s credulity by sonie nianufactured tale of distressand she
, more than ever saw the necessity of sej ) arating him at once from such dangerous associates . But this was not quite so easy to do .
In a Quixotic spirit , the youth had given them his promise of protectionand would not listen to his sister's arguments . The world
, doubtless was uncharitable , —appearances against them , —but they had confided to him their history under promise of secrecy , —he
believed firmly in its veracity , the more so as he knew the parties concerned in itandwhatever happenedwas determined to stand
, , , by them , & c . He said , he had sought his sister ' s advice to help him because he felt they needed a female friend ; but that if she
was so uncharitable as to suspect them , he would go elsewhere for aid . It was a difficult position for Mrs . D to be placed in .
On the one side a hot-headed youth to deal with , who , in the zenith of romantic enthusiasm , would not listen to reason , and who ,
moreover , was not in a position to take on himself the pecuniary liabilities imposed by his charges ; andon the other hand , two
, young girls whose case evidently , the further she investigated , would involve her in trouble and responsibility ; she had also a
family of young children , and consequently not much leisure to make the necessary inquiries .
Still , Mrs . D told me she had visited the girls several times , and latterlhad been so pleased with the younger sisterof whose
respectability y she was convinced , that she had taken her temporaril , y into her housebelieving her to have only committed some folly which
made her , afraid to return home ; but she could not keep her , and had therefore called on me to ask for the Society ' s aid , adding , that
Anne was very anxious to do something for herself , and to come out to work . She had been also , she said , more open with her lately ,
and had obtained some clue to her friends , which she hoped I would follow up .
In fact , between cross-questioning her brother and Anne , she had elicited enough to convince her that her friends were really in a
good position of life , and she offered to furnish me with the names of several of the girl ' s connexionsor at least of persons whom she
believed to be so . I inquired for the , other sister ; Mrs . D shook her head ; she said she knew little about her ; she had only seen her
once or twice ; that she was very handsome , but her demeanor struck her as too independent ; she was much more guarded in replying to
any questions than Anne , and had an off-hand manner she did not like . The last time she saw her the young lady said she was going
to be companion to an old lady friend who had offered her a home , so that Mrs . D need not trouble about her any more .
The whole story did indeed strike me as very unsatisfactory , but
I determined to see the young lady , and judge for myself whether
330 Annals Of Needlewomen.
330 ANNALS OF _NEEDLEWOMEN .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), July 1, 1862, page 330, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01071862/page/42/
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