I was so wrought up by the bare idea of such awful eventualities as these in connection with such a man, that I believe I should have rushed from my place of concealment, and implored him in the name of all the Ladies’ Committees in London to explain himself—when I suddenly heard another voice in the room. It penetrated, through the curtains; it was loud, it was bold, it was wanting in every female charm. The voice of Rachel Verinder.