Since Paul kept his word, it so happened that Billie was the only one facing Edina when the girl opened her letter. So also it was Billie who rushed forward, alarmed at the girl’s sudden waxy pallor.
“Why, Edina dear! what is it? Have you had bad news?”
Edina stretched out a hand as though to push Billie away. Her color returned in a hot wave. She spoke in a thick tone, wavering and unsteady.
“There ain’t nothin’—anything—wrong. Please don’t notice me. I’ll—be all right—in a minute.”
So it was Billie, staunch friend that she was, who turned the attention of the young folks into other channels, who kept up a running fire of nonsense, under cover of which Edina was once more able to resume command of herself.
The fact that the girl slipped the letter into her pocket without reading to the end of it did not pass unnoticed by Billie, nor the fact that Edina was distrait and silent for the rest of the long afternoon.
“That letter was a terrible shock to her,” thought Billie. “I’d give almost anything I own to know what was in it.”
CHAPTER XVII
THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER
It was a lovely picnic. The girls could not remember when they had enjoyed anything so much.