corrected at B----, that some literary project was afoot; but she
knew nothing, and wisely said nothing, until she heard a report
from others, that Charlotte Bronte was an author--had published a
novel! Then she wrote to her; and received the two following
letters; confirmatory enough, as it seems to me now, in their
very vehemence and agitation of intended denial, of the truth of
the report.

"April 28th, 1848.

"Write another letter, and explain that last note of yours
distinctly. If your allusions are to myself, which I suppose they
are, understand this,--I have given no one a right to gossip
about me, and am not to be judged by frivolous conjectures,
emanating from any quarter whatever. Let me know what you heard,
and from whom you heard it."

"May 3rd, 1848.

"All I can say to you about a certain matter is this: the
report--if report there be--and if the lady, who seems to have
been rather mystified, had not dreamt what she fancied had been
told to her--must have had its origin in some absurd
misunderstanding. I have given NO ONE a right either to affirm,
or to hint, in the most distant manner, that I was
'publishing'--(humbug!) Whoever has said it--if any one has,
which I doubt--is no friend of mine. Though twenty books were
ascribed to me, I should own none. I scout the idea utterly.
Whoever, after I have distinctly rejected the charge, urges it
upon me, will do an unkind and an ill-bred thing. The most