"Perhaps it is a receipt for my subscription to the"--But Miss Prince
never finished the sentence, for when she had fairly taken the letter
into her hand, the very touch of it seemed to send a tinge of ashen
gray like some quick poison over her face. She stood still, looking at
it, then flushed crimson, and sat down in the nearest chair, as if it
were impossible to hold herself upright. The captain was uncertain
what he ought to do.
"I hope you haven't heard bad news," he said presently, for Miss
Prince had leaned back in the arm-chair and covered her eyes with one
hand, while the letter was tightly held in the other.
"It is from my niece," she answered, slowly.
"You don't mean it's from Jack's daughter?" inquired the captain, not
without eagerness. He never had suspected such a thing; the only
explanation which had suggested itself to his mind was that Miss
Prince had been investing some of her money without his advice or
knowledge, and he had gone so far as to tell himself that it was just
like a woman, and quite good enough for her if she had lost it. "I
never thought of its being from her," he said, a little bewildered,
for the captain was not a man of quick wit; his powers of reflection
served him better. "Well, aren't you going to tell me what she has to
say for herself?"
"She proposes to make me a visit," answered Miss Prince, trying to
smile as she handed him the little sheet of paper which she had
unconsciously crumpled together; but she did not give even one glance
at his face as he read it, though she thought it a distressingly long
time before he spoke.
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