Miss Pendergast,

I haven't made you out to be a dragon at all, and I'm sorry that you think I have. It isn't as though the way things ended between us was anyone's fault. We wanted different things, and we found that out too late to keep ourselves from making some mistakes.

I'm not "after" anyone, and it isn't as though I've replaced you. People can say whatever they want, but it's all just talk. You of all people ought to know that I'm not really the sort to make plans to elope and if I was going to then it wouldn't be with Miss.
Reuben Crouch