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Rh Susan, however, who was resolved to neglect nothing that could throw the faintest light on the mystery she was so anxious to penetrate, consented to keep the half-crown, and after making Harry observe the inscription, she folded it in paper, and deposited it in the same little box with the shirt studs.

Much did she debate whether or not to mention the circumstance, but the apprehension of not being believed on the one hand, and of injuring Harry still further with Gaveston, on the other, decided her to remain silent for the present. Indeed, although from foregone conclusions she attached much importance to the accident herself, she could not expect it to have any weight with other people. Gaveston would naturally deny any acquaintance with the previous history of the half-crown; and his having given it to the boy, would be a strong confirmation of the truth of his assertions.

The displeasure she found she was likely to bring on Harry by remaining in the neighbourhood of Oakfield, quickened a determination she had been some time forming, of trying her fortune in London; where her unhappy story being less known, she hoped she might get employment. With this view, she wrote to her