"Very well; you may come right away, but be brief. I will grant you only a few minutes."
"Thank you," and both receivers were hung up.
In response to my ring the maid ushered me into a lovely reception-room, where Mrs. S——- soon appeared in a high state of nervous excitement.
"You have greatly upset me, Mrs. Roberts," she said. "Kindly be brief. To your point at once. I have much to do, also must dress before luncheon, for our card-party at Mrs. ——-'s this afternoon."
"Mrs. S——-, you no doubt will be able to identify Pearl's handwriting." I replied.
"Most assuredly," she rejoined. "What of it?"
"Simply this: In my possession are three notes. They were written by your daughter to a boy companion in school. The boy's mother lent them to me. It is my painful duty to show them to you. First of all, permit me to assure you that this matter is perfectly safe with me," I said.
"Come into the next room where we can be undisturbed and unobserved," she requested. Then she rang the bell and said to the maid:
"I shall not be at home to any one who either 'phones or calls."
(Here let me say that having once been associated with Mrs. S—— socially, I was not a stranger.)