“Then the wicked are sometimes prospered in this world?”
“Yes, but this world is not all.”
“Has there been any communication with my cousin in all these years?”
“Yes; two years ago I wrote to him.”
“What did you write?”
“You must forgive me, Ernest, but I saw you growing up without education, and I felt that you should have advantages which I could not give you. I wrote to your cousin, asking if he would pay your expenses in a preparatory school and afterwards at college.”
“What did he reply?”
“Go to the trunk. You will find his letter there. It is in the tray, and addressed to me.”
Ernest found it readily.
“May I read it?” he asked.