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Yet the difficulty of the refusal increased, from the increased urgency, even to fury, of Mrs. Maple; till, shamed and persecuted beyond all power of resistance, she resolved upon committing the letter to the hands of Harleigh himself; who, to an interest like her own in its concealment, superadded courage and consequence for sustaining the refusal.
This, inevitably, must break into her design of avoiding him; but, hurried and harassed, she could devise no other expedient, to escape from an appearance of utter culpability to the whole house. When again, therefore, Mrs. Maple, repeated, "Will you please to let me see my niece's letter, or not?" She answered that there was a passage in it upon which Miss Joddrel had desired that Mr. Harleigh might be consulted.
It would be difficult to say, whether this reference caused greater surprise to Mrs. Maple or to Harleigh; but the feelings which accompanied it were as dissimilar as their characters: Mrs. Maple
