Finding the partners were to be seen, they sent up their cards, and, instructing the cabman to wait, were ushered into the private office of the firm, where the two gentlemen were seated.
After greeting them with that warmth and friendliness which is a marked feature in the character of the natives of the Midlands, and which also, from the long-standing friendship existing, might naturally have been anticipated, they sought to know the nature of the special business to which they felt so unexpected a visit was due.
Speaking with much emotion, and not without a strong effort to control her feelings, Mrs. Sinclair, whose pallid features bore vivid traces of unmistakable suffering, said—
"I yesterday received a letter which, when I show you, will, I expect, be as much a surprise to you as it was to myself and daughter."
Pausing for a few moments, as she searched in her pocket for the letter referred to, she added, as soon as the important document was brought to light, "If you will kindly read this, it will fully explain the object of my visit much better than I should be able to do."
Taking the letter which was offered them, they sought and obtained permission to retire into an inner room, where it might be perused without fear of interruption.
On their return, after the lapse of some ten minutes, the younger of the two men remarked;—
"No doubt, Mrs. Sinclair, you were greatly surprised at the news which this letter brought?"
"So much so, sir, that I fainted; and it was some time before I was fully able to recover myself."
"I can well believe it. But you will, no doubt, be still more astonished when I tell you that we are already in full possession of all which that letter reveals, and a little more."