The Argosy, Vol. 42

This installment of "Millicent's Folly" by the author of "East Lynne" begins with news arriving at the Crane household in Rockham. Millicent's stepmother Mrs. Crane receives a letter from Philip's London banking employers revealing he has embezzled fifty pounds and fled. Millicent, devoted to her indigent brother, despairs at the accusation.

The narrative flashes back: orphaned young with her brother Philip, Millicent and he inherited little after their father's death—only fifty pounds yearly to each—while their stepmother received the estate for life. Philip struggled in London banking, accumulated debts, and in desperation stole from his employers on his twenty-second birthday.

Mrs. Crane conceals Philip's disgrace from Millicent's fiancé Richard Leite, whom she values as a match, but extracts Millicent's promise never to mention her brother in his presence. Weeks pass in anxious preparation for spring marriage while Philip is presumed fled to America.

In February, a sailor delivers Philip's clandestine note begging Millicent to meet him at Port Street at dusk. Richard encounters her immediately after, notices her distress and the hidden letter, and grows suspicious.