Circumstances of a peculiar character necessitate this communication
on my part, and I am constrained to approach you in regard to a
subject on which otherwise I would observe the most punctilious
reticence. This refers to certain testamentary intentions on your
part concerning my granddaughter, which she and I have heard
through direct and responsible sources. Many reasons influence my
granddaughter in desiring me to say to you, that with the keenest
sense of the good will on your part toward her, and with assurances
of the most profound consideration, she feels compelled to decline
absolutely the measures you have devised for her benefit. Of these
many reasons, I will give only one, but that, my dear Romaine,
will be conclusive. It would be a very flagrant wrong, I conceive,
to those of your own blood, who might justly expect to be the
beneficiaries of your bounty, to find themselves passed over in favor
of one who has not the slightest claim of any kind upon you. This
would place my granddaughter in a most painful position, and might
result in legal complications extremely embarrassing to a delicate
minded person of the gentler sex. She begs, therefore, through this
medium, that you will change your kind intentions toward her and
not bestow upon her that to which she apprehends others are better
entitled than herself. With renewed assurances of respect and regard,
believe me to be, my dear Romaine,
Your friend and well-wisher,