"There's two!" announced Dinah, bursting back into the kitchen and waving her capture. "Two!—and the Troy postmark on both of 'em!"
"Put them down on the table, please. And kindly take a look at the oven. You needn't let the bread burn, even if I am to take breakfast in the kitchen."
"But ain't you in a hurry to open them, mistress?" asked Dinah, pretending to go, still hanging on her heel.
"Maybe I am; maybe I ain't." Mrs Bosenna picked up the two envelopes with a carelessness which was slightly overdone. They were sealed, the pair of them. She broke the seal of the first carefully, drew out the letter, and read—
"HONOURED MADAM,—You will doubtless be surprised—"
She turned to the last page and read the subscription—
"Yours obediently,"
"TOBIAS HUNKEN."
"Who's it from, mistress?" asked Dinah, making pretence of a difficulty with the oven door.
"Nobody that concerns you," snapped Mrs Bosenna, and hastily stowed the letter in the bosom of her bodice. She picked up the other. Of that, in turn, she broke the seal—