‘Pshaw!’ she exclaimed, with a forced laugh. ‘What a goose I am! I dare say, after all, it’s somebody wants assistance.’
She opened the letter and read it. It was short, but there was enough in it to drive the blood from Ruth’s cheeks and make her tremble like an aspen-leaf.
‘Madam,
‘For your husband’s sake, and if you value his liberty, let me see you alone. If I cannot see you at the house when I call, meet me outside the lodge-gates at eight. It will be dark then. Do not delay, as I must return to London to-night. Show this to no one. All depends upon your secrecy.
‘A Friend.’
The letter fluttered down from Ruth’s trembling grasp on to the floor.
What did it mean?
Was it a trap? She had read of such things. No, the woman had asked at first openly to see her. She had come in the broad daylight and been refused.
For her husband’s sake!
What terrible secret was about to be revealed to her? She remembered now his wild words and the strange confessions he had poured out during his illness.