But before Dolly left her new-found relation's house, it was all
arranged between them. She was to come there at once as his
adopted daughter; was to take and use the name of Merrick; was to
see nothing more of that wicked woman, her mother; and was to be
married in due time from Sir Anthony's house, and under Sir
Anthony's auspices, to Walter Brydges.
She wrote to Walter then and there, from her grandfather's
consulting-room. Numb with shame as she was, she nerved her hand
to write to him. In what most delicate language she could find,
she let him plainly know who Sir Anthony was, and all else that had
happened. But she added at the end one significant clause: "While
my mother lives, dear Walter, I feel I can never marry you."