In New York they had friends, to whom they gave her letters fully explanatory of her mission, and earnestly commending her to their care and protection.
Two weeks before the ship in which Edward Marvel sailed reached her destination, Agnes was in New York.

Before her departure, she had sought, but in vain, to discover the name of the vessel in which her husband had embarked.

On arriving in the New World, she was therefore uncertain whether he had preceded her in a steamer, or was still lingering on the way.
The friends to whom Agnes brought letters received her with great kindness, and gave her all the advice and assistance needed under the circumstances.

But two weeks went by without a word of intelligence on the one subject that absorbed all her thoughts.
Sadly was her health beginning to suffer.

Sunken eyes and pale cheeks attested the weight of suffering that was on her.
One day it was announced that a Liverpool packet had arrived with the ship fever on board, and that several of the passengers had been removed to the hospital.
A thrill of fear went through the heart of the anxious wife.