"Nor complained of you at all?"
"No, mamma! The first intimation that I had of his displeasure was given me the night of my arrival, when he betrayed some annoyance at my coming upon him suddenly without having previously written. I gave him what I supposed to be sufficient reasons for my act—the same reasons that I afterwards gave you."
"They were perfectly satisfactory. And even if they had not been so, it was no just cause for his behavior. Did he find fault with any part of your conduct previous to your arrival?"
"No, mamma; certainly not. I have told you so before."
"And this is true?"
"As true as Heaven, mamma."
"Then it is easy to fix upon the cause of his bad conduct. That girl. It is a good thing she is dead," hissed the elder lady between her teeth.
She spoke in a tone too low to reach the ears of Berenice, who sat with her weeping face buried in her handkerchief.
There was silence for a little while between the ladies. Berenice was the first to break it, by asking:
"Mamma, can you imagine where he is?"