He could not assure her that it would be so, but he had no doubt of it. In
order, however, that things might be made to run as smooth as possible, he
recommended her very strongly to go at once to Mr. Camperdown and make a
clean breast of it to him. "The whole family should be told," said the
major, "and it will be better for you that they should know it from
yourself than from us." When she hesitated, he explained to her that the
matter could no longer be kept as a secret, and that her evidence would
certainly appear in the papers. He proposed that she should be summoned
for that day week--which would be the Friday after Lucinda's marriage--and
he suggested that she should go to Mr. Camperdown's on the morrow.
"What--to-morrow?" exclaimed Lizzie, in dismay.
"My dear Lady Eustace," said the major, "the sooner you get back into
straight running, the sooner you will be comfortable." Then she promised
that she would go on the Tuesday--the day after the marriage. "If he
learns it in the mean time, you must not be surprised," said the major.
"Tell me one thing, Major Mackintosh," she said, as she gave him her hand
at parting, "they can't take away from me anything that is my own--can
they?"
"I don't think they can," said the major, escaping rather quickly from the
room.
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