So saying, she returned to the house and, going to her room, bolted the
door. After which, breaking the seal of the oldest letter, she
deliberately read it through, occasionally uttering a malediction against
Mr. Miller, thanking the good luck which brought it to her hands instead
of Dr. Lacey's, and making remarks generally. Said she, "Mighty good
opinion Mr. Quilting-frames has of me (alluding to Mr. Miller's height),
glad I know his mind. A heap of good the answer to this did him, and his
doll wife, too. Hadn't I better answer it myself? I'd write after this
fashion: 'Mr. Miller--At first I thought I would treat your letter with
silent contempt, but recently I have concluded to write and thank you to
mind your own business. By order of George Lacey, Esq.--Julia Middleton,
Secretary.' Yes, that would serve the meddling old Yankee Dictionary
right," continued she, and then, as her eye fell upon the remaining
letter, she added, "Yes, I'll read this one too, and see what new thing
I'm guilty of!"
As soon as she broke it open and glanced at the handwriting, she knew it
to be from Mrs. Carrington. "What now?" said she, "what has Mrs.
Carrington got to say about me."
A rapid perusal of the letter showed her what Mrs. Carrington had to say,
and she continued her remarks as follows: "She has described me quite
accurately. I didn't suppose she knew me so well. I wonder who'll write
next! It seems everybody is in league against me, but I'm enough for
anybody there is in Kentucky; and," she added, in a lower tone, "I
wouldn't hesitate to try my strength with Satan himself;" but even then
the dark girl trembled as she thought there was a God, whom none could
withstand, and who, one day, would inevitably overtake her.
Quickly as possible she drove such unpleasant thoughts from her mind, and
then tried to devise the best plan for managing Mrs. Carrington. "For Mr.
Miller's letter," said she, "I care nothing. It was written so long ago
that he has ceased expecting an answer, but I well know Mrs. Carrington's
designs, and she will continue to write until she receives some reply. I
have once successfully counterfeited Dr. Lacey's handwriting, and can do
it again. I'll send her something that will quiet her nerves better than
assafoetida!"
This settled, she went in quest of Rondeau, whom she told that, as she had
expected, his master was very much displeased. "But," said she, "after I
interceded awhile for you, he said he would forgive you on condition that
you were never guilty of the like again, and never mention the subject to
him in any way, as it makes him angry to talk about it." To both these
conditions Rondeau readily agreed, and Julia left him, thinking she was
safe in that quarter.