154
ment could I not tie her up to?   My omis-
sion of all notice of her writings and the only thing
to be done, considering our mutual relations.  I
couldn�t, wouldn�t have praised them sans qualifica-
tion: my knowledge of her forbade my telling the whole
truth about their frequent atrocity.    She was passion-
ate enough to lie about me � saying I had often pro-
fessed admiration for her writings.    Now did
I but choose to review her, in the next Scalpel; to
carefully read through the whole of her books and to
tell the truth about them, I could ���� well! no
matter.    Dixon would let me do anything which
promised to create a sensation � I might did I
choose � but bah! would I!          Parton�s all right,
of course, thinks I didn�t say enough of Bonner�s
liberality &c � a mistake, I�m sure, for I�ve praised
him highly, but that�s all.           Altogether I�m the 
freer from the rupture.     I was in a false posi-
tion at the house, and am now in true relations
with them.     Sometimes it was pleasant enough
to call there, but oftener I have felt like a hypocrite,
an accessory to what I knew wasn�t what it pretend-
ed to be.        In my heart and judgment I knew
the miserable woman was bad, base and selfish,
her writings like herself a sham, unwomanly and
worthy only of their audience.        Oh me! though
for Parton!  When Grace, who is as good as
she knows how to be, is married to Mort Thom-