She was not ashamed of having read it--though the mere touch of the
paper was hateful to her--for she felt that Providence had ordained it
that she should stand between Lady Wolfer and the ruin to which Sir
Archie was beckoning her.

But what should she do? Should she take the letter to Lady Wolfer and
implore her to send Sir Archie a refusal? This was, of course, Nell's
first impulse, but she dared not follow it; dared not run the risk of
letting Lady Wolfer see the note. The unhappy woman's face haunted Nell,
and her reckless words, and her tone of desperation, still rang in
Nell's ears. No; she dared not let Lady Wolfer know that this man would
be waiting for her. Few women in the position of the countess could
resist such a note as this, such an appeal from the man who, she
thought, loved her. But if she did not take the note to the countess,
what was she to do?

Sir Archie would be, then, in the library at seven o'clock; he would ask
for the countess; she would go to him, and--Nell shuddered, and walked
up and down. If there were any one to whom she could go for advice! But
there was no one. At all costs, the truth must be kept from the earl;
his wife must be saved.

It was a terrible position for a young and inexperienced girl; but,
despite her youth and inexperience, the note could scarcely have fallen
into better hands than Nell's; for she possessed courage, and was not
afraid for herself. Most girls, keenly though they might desire to save
their friend, would have destroyed the note and left the rest to
Providence; but Nell's spirit had been trained in the bracing air of
Shorne Mills, and her views tempered by many a tussle with tide and wind
in the _Annie Laurie_; and the pluck which lay dormant in the slight
figure rose now to the struggle for her friend's safety. She had grown
to love the woman who had confided her heart's sorrow to her that night,
and she meant to save her. But how? Sir Archie would be there at seven,
and Lady Wolfer must be kept in ignorance of his presence; and he must
be sent away convinced of the hopelessness of his passion.