“Read that,” she said, “and it will save my breath. You will see by the signature that it was written by my poor brother himself, and is dated the second of August.”
“The day before his death?”
“Exactly. It is in pencil, as you will perceive, but is quite legible, and has the ‘Dragon, Turoy, Westmoreland,’ printed in colors on the paper.”
“Yes, I see. The landlord of the ‘Dragon,’ who is quite the gentleman in his way, must have lent it to him. I remember that he affected all those little refinements.”
“Very well, now read it through, and tell me what you make of it.”
“Would you mind telling me, first of all, to whom this letter was written?”
“To a Miss Pindar—a relation of my mother’s, who brought us up when our parents died. Poor George, with all his faults, was very much attached to her, and always kept her au courant as to his movements. She was his favorite of us two, and I know she scraped and saved in order to send him money for his pleasures. But he did mean to make it all up to her,” added Mrs. O’Hara. “I saw the letter he wrote to Miss Pindar directly he came into his property.”
It occurred to Colonel Dacre that promises did not cost much, but he refrained from any hint to this effect, seeing how much it comforted Norah to accredit her brother with good intentions.
CHAPTER XX.
LOVED AND LOST.