Younger and quicker, Mrs.Linley got to the fireplace first, and seized the letter.

"There is something more!" she exclaimed.

"And you are afraid of my knowing what it is." "Don't read it!" Mrs.Presty called out.
There was but one sentence left to read: "If your maternal anxiety suggests any misgiving, let me add that a woman's loving care will watch over our little girl while she is under my roof.

You will remember how fond Miss Westerfield was of Kitty, and you will believe me when I tell you that she is as truly devoted to the child as ever." "I tried to prevent you from reading it," said Mrs.Presty.
Mrs.Linley looked at her mother with a strange unnatural smile.
"I wouldn't have missed this for anything!" she said.

"The cruelest of all separations is proposed to me--and I am expected to submit to it, because my husband's mistress is fond of my child!" She threw the letter from her with a frantic gesture of contempt and burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.
The old mother's instinct--not the old mother's reason--told her what to do.