His hand shook so much that he was a long while in mastering its contents.
"Good God!" he said at last, "what a blow! My poor Bessie," and he drew her into his arms and kissed her.

Suddenly a thought struck him.
"Perhaps it is all one of Frank Muller's lies," he said, "or perhaps he made a mistake." But Bessie did not answer.

For the time, at any rate, hope had left her..