Nor would she have writing materials in the drawing-room or dining-room.

There was a chamber behind the dining-room in which there was an inkbottle, and if there was a letter to be written, let the writer go there and write it.

In the writing of many letters, however, she put no confidence, and regarded penny postage as one of the strongest evidences of the coming ruin.
"Martha," she said, "I want to speak to you.

Sit down.

I think I am going to do something." Martha sat down, but did not speak a word.
There had been no question asked of her, and the time for speaking had not come.