"Oh, if I could but stop here!" said Maggie. "I have no heart to begin a strange life again. I should have no stay. I should feel like a lonely wanderer, cut off from the past. I have written to the lady who offered me a situation to excuse myself. If I remained here, I could perhaps atone in some way to Lucy–to others; I could convince them that I'm sorry. And," she added,with some of the old proud fire flashing out, "I will no go away because people say false things of me. They shall learn to retract them. If I must go away at last,because–because others wish it, I will not go now."