She remembered having seen a letter lying on the table beside her mother, and the moment she could safely leave the bedside she went in search of it.

It was only an empty envelope, but as she moved away her dress rustled against a paper on the floor, which she picked up and found to be the letter itself.

Without any other thought than that her mother must have received a shock which this might explain, she opened the half-folded sheet and hastily read the contents.
They were short, and in a hand she knew well--that of a clergyman who was an old and trusted friend of Mrs.Costello.This was his letter:-- "My dear friend, "I was just about writing to say that I would obey your summons, and steal two or three days next week from my work to visit you, when a piece of information reached me, which has caused me, for your sake, to defer my journey.

Perhaps you can guess what it is.

You have too often expressed your fears of C.'s return to be surprised at their fulfilment, but I grieve to have to add to your anxieties at this moment by telling you that he is really in this neighbourhood.