“Virginia will be down in a minute or two,” said the lady. “For reasons, she has been staying with me since she returned from abroad. I’ll let her tell you about it.” She regarded Locke with frank interest, yet in a manner that was not at all embarrassing, for it plainly contained a great deal of friendliness. “Virginia has told me much about you,” she stated. “It has never before been my good fortune to meet a professional baseball player. My niece is very fond of Mrs. Hazelton.”
“Your niece!” exclaimed Lefty.
“Virginia is my niece, although I have scarcely seen her since she was a very small child. Here she is now.”
Virginia ran, laughing, to meet Janet. After the manner of girl friends, they hugged and kissed each other.
“Really,” said Virginia, “I should give you a good shaking for not answering all my letters!”
“Your letters!” cried Janet. “I’ve received only two letters from you in goodness knows how long! I answered them; and wrote you a dozen to which I got not a word of reply.”
They gazed at each other in blank uncertainty for a minute or two, and every trace of laughter died from Miss Collier’s face. Her blue eyes began to flash.
“Then,” she said, “our letters were intercepted. I can’t remember whether I posted any of mine or not, but I was so worried over father that it is doubtful if I did. I let my maid attend to that. She nearly always brought the mail to me, too. When I obtained positive proof that she was dishonest, I discharged her. Even now it’s hard to believe she was so treacherous.”
“But why should she intercept our letters? I don’t understand, Virginia.”
“There has been a dreadful plot to ruin my father. You’ll hardly believe it when I tell you. I find it difficult to believe, even now.” She shivered, some of the color leaving her face. “It was necessary to cut us off from any true information of what was happening to his business interests. Letters from you might have given me an inkling, Janet, and so they were secured and destroyed before they ever reached my hands. Other letters met the same fate. Mr. Weegman declared he wrote several which I know my father never got.”