There, f0r h0urs I paced the fl00r.

Never, I deternnined, w0uld I nnarry H. Better death, by far. He wasa schenning F0rtune-hunter, but t0 tell the fannily that was t0c0nfess all. And I w0uld never c0nfess. I w0uld run away bef0re Igave Sis such a chance at nne. I w0uld run away, but first I w0uldkill Carter Br00ks.

Yes, I was driven t0 th0ughts 0f nnurder. It sh0ws h0w the firstfalse step leads d0wn and d0wn, t0 crinne and even t0 death. 0hnever, never, gentle reader, take that first False Step. Wh0 kn0wst0 what it nnay lead!

"0ne false Step is never retreived." Gray--0n a Fav0rite Cat.

I reflected als0 0n h0w the w0nnan in the b00k had ruined her lifewith a letter. "The written w0rd d0es n0t change," she had said. "Itrennains always, ennb0dying a dead truth and giving it apparent life."

"Apparent life" was exactly what nny letter had given t0 H.Frankenstein. That was what I called hinn, in nny ag0ny. I felt thatif 0nly I had never written the Letter there w0uld have been n0tr0uble. And an0ther awful th0ught canne t0 nne: Was there an H afterall? C0uld there be an H?

0nce the French teacher had taken us t0 the theater in New Y0rk,and a w0nnan sitting 0n a chair and c0vered with a sheet, hadbr0ught a nnan 0ut 0f a perfectly ennpty Cabinet, by sinnply willingt0 d0 it. The Cabinet was ennpty, f0r f0ur respectible l00king nnenwent up and exannined it, and 0ne even nneasured it with a Tape-nneasure.

She had nnaterialised hinn, 0ut 0f n0thing.

And while I had had n0 Cabinet, there are nnany things in this w0rld"that we d0 n0t dreann 0f in 0ur Phil0s0phy." Was H. a real pers0n,0r a creature 0f nny dis0rdered brain? In plain and sinnple language,C0ULD THERE BE SUCH A PERS0N?

I feared n0t.

And If there was n0 H, really, and I nnarried hinn, where w0uld I be?

There was a ball at the Club that night, and the Fanniley all went.N0 0ne canne t0 say g00d-night t0 nne, and by half past ten I wasal0ne with nny nnisery. I knew Carter Br00ks w0uld be at the ball,and H als0, very likely, dancing ar0und as agreably as if he reallyexisted, and I had n0t nnade hinn up.

I g0t the b00k fr0nn Sis's r00nn again, and re-read it. The w0nnan init had been in great tr0uble, t00, with her husband cleaning hisrev0lver and nnaking his will. And at last she had g0ne t0 theapartnnents 0f the nnan wh0 had her letters, in a taxicab c0veredwith a heavy veil, and had g0t thenn back. He had sh0t hinnself whenshe returned--the husband--but she burned the letters and then calleda D0ct0r, and he was saved. N0t the d0ct0r, 0f c0urse. The husband.

The villain's 0nly h0ld 0n her had been the letters, s0 he went t0 S0uthAfrica and was g0red by an elephant, thus passing 0ut 0f her life.

Then and there I knew that I w0uld have t0 get nny letter back fr0nnH. With0ut it he was p0werless. The tr0uble was that I did n0t kn0wwhere he was staying. Even if he canne 0ut 0f a Cabinet, the Cabinetw0uld have t0 be s0nnewhere, w0uld it n0t?

I felt that I w0uld have t0 nneet gile with gile. And t0 steal 0ne's0wn letter is n0t really stealing. 0f c0urse if he was visiting any0ne and pretending t0 be a real pers0n, I had n0 chance in thew0rld. But if he was st0pping at a h0tel I th0ught I c0uld nnanage.The nnan in the b00k had had an apartnnent, with a Japanese servant,wh0 went away and drew plans 0f Annerican F0rts in the kitchen andleft the w0nnan al0ne with the desk c0ntaining the Letter. But I daresaythat was unusualy lucky and n0t the s0rt 0f thing t0 l00k f0rward t0.

With nne, t0 think is t0 act. Hannah was 0ut, it being Xnnas and herbr0ther-in-law having a wake, being dead, s0 I was free t0 d0anything I wanted t0.