THE BLACK DWARF.
345
CHAPTER XIX.
Last scene of all,
To close this strange eventful history.
As you like it.
On the next morning, Mr Ratcliffe presented Miss Vere with a letter from her father, of which the following is the tenor:—
"My dearest Child,
"The malice of a persecuting government will compel me, for my own safety, to retreat abroad, and to remain for some time in foreign parts. I do not ask you to accompany, or follow me; you will attend to my interest and your own more effectually by remaining where you are.
